D&D 5E Magus (gish) Concept?

[Zardnaar]

Raw you can cast shield. You can take a hand off your 2 handed weapon if that is what you are using, it only has VS components.

I also don't agree that that SCAG cantrips are trap options at 5-6 or 11+ they are actually fairly comparable for all levels if looking just at damage of GFB and the extra effects of the other cantrips could be very useful.

And if you want to use a shield and do you have a page number for the two handed weapon thing?

It only seems good for level 14 Valor bards and classes with a single attack that are not Rogues.

An EK at level 11 for example has to choose between 3 attacks or GFB, 1 attack and the bonus action (vs a potential 3 or 4 attacks).

 

[cbwjm]

I know, damage is comparable even with 3 or 4 attacks.

 

[Zardnaar]

I know, damage is comparable even with 3 or 4 attacks.

Still gets back to my main point of WoTC coming up with band aids because the PHB gish kinda fail (without MC or Paladins).

 

[TwoSix]

Have you seen the magus class on the DMs guild? It may do what you want, but, more importantly, it changed the stat based on the subclass chosen at level 1. I think they had a green mage type version which used Wisdom, a more wizardly class which used Intelligence, and whatever the Charisma one was. It might be worth stealing the idea. Each had a different spell list to go along with their magic focus.

As someone who is playing a magus right now (the druidic Wisdom based subclass, specifically), I can vouch that it's an excellent class for playing a gish. Its weapon enspell ability is explicitly designed to let you not worry about War Caster. It has a smite (albeit weaker) so dipping into paladin isn't encouraged. It gets the EK War Magic ability, and several customized SCAG style cantrips for each subclass, as its main at-will.

 

[Blue]

Its because the phb gish do not work that well RAW and tend to not work as advertised. An eldritch knight for example is not that good at blending spells and weapons while the Paladin is really good but not arcane.

SCAG and UA are still trying to make the concept work. The reason they do not work very well is a combination of lack of focus, not being proficent in con saves, MAD, kack of proficiency in heavy armor and the rules on drawing weapons and somatic components.

EK is a weapon users with some spells. It works great for that niche. That's not the only niche for gish (ooh, a rhyme), there are concepts it's nto designed to cover (as a fighter subclass). But what it does cover it does fairly well.

Between EK, valor bard, bladelock, arcane trickster, and bladesinger you cover many different facets of arcane caster with weapons. And multiclassing expands it ever further. No, there isn't one class that covers every concept and I find that to be a good thing, since you have a lot of variety in how you want to realize your specific concept.

That's not against a paladin-based gish - I think they'd make great ones. But don't start with the concept that the PHB can't deliver it because it can, start with the concept of "I want to do something in addition to what the PHB can do that fits a specific vision".

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Not sure why it's important to have a dedicated gish class without multiclassing. Being both warrior and mage seems like the kind of concept that multiclassing was made for.

 

[Blue]

do you have a page number for the two handed weapon thing?

JC and MM have clarified in the sage advice twitter feed that you can, and the official errata clarifies that the Two-Handed property is only needed when you are attacking, not just holding it. So you are free to take your hand off.

 

[guachi]

And if you want to use a shield and do you have a page number for the two handed weapon thing?

It only seems good for level 14 Valor bards and classes with a single attack that are not Rogues.

An EK at level 11 for example has to choose between 3 attacks or GFB, 1 attack and the bonus action (vs a potential 3 or 4 attacks).

Can't an EK summon his weapon back into his hand? In a current campaign I DM the EK throws her weapon around when she casts Shield and then summons it on her turn. It's fun!

As to taking a hand off a two-handed weapon, I don't need a page number; I just need to use my brain as a DM.

 

[cmad1977]

JC and MM have clarified in the sage advice twitter feed that you can, and the official errata clarifies that the Two-Handed property is only needed when you are attacking, not just holding it. So you are free to take your hand off.

What stupefies me about this is that it even needed clarifying for people. Our community is full of reasonably sharp folk... but if the rules don't specifically say that one doesn't need two hands on their weapon ALL THE TIME we don't know how to adjudicate it.




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[doctorbadwolf]

Not sure why it's important to have a dedicated gish class without multiclassing. Being both warrior and mage seems like the kind of concept that multiclassing was made for.

The concept isn't "both a warrior and a Mage", though. It's "a magical warrior".

Which, imo, the UA Hexblade o a slightly tweaked elemental or Shadow Monk do just fine.

But I'd still love to see this concept as a class.

Especially if we can steal arcane archer from fighter and put it here.