comrade raoul
Explorer
Below is a revised version of the eldritch knight. It's motivated to address what I take to be some of the main complaints directed towards it: (a) that it lacks anything even remotely resembling flavor; and (b) that the d6 hit die and the lack of ability to cast spells in armor make the class much to fragile to effectively combine magical and melee abilities. This version of the eldritch knight is a bit more "knight" than "eldritch" than the original: its entrance requirements are tilted more towards fighters, it loses the bonus feat and weakens the spellcasting progression but improves the hit die and fortitude saves. It also borrows shamelessly from the other established warrior/mage hybrid classes (the spellsword, the bladesinger, and Monte Cook's excellent mageblade) in order to both add much-need color to the class and to more seamlessly combine casting and melee abilities.
Any comments would, of course, be appreciated, particularly with respect to the extents to which the class is balanced, to which it improves on the existing eldritch knight, and to which the class seems playable and fun.
Eldritch Knight (Revised Version)
Flavor text goes here.
Hit Die: d8
Requirements
To qualify to become an eldritch knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Feats: Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus (any melee weapon).
Weapon Proficiency: Must be proficient with all martial weapons.
Spells: Ability to cast arcane spells of 2nd level or higher.
Class Skills
The eldritch knight’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Swim (Str). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Ability Progression
Base Attack Bonus: Excellent (+1 per level, as fighter)
Strong Saves: Fortitude, Will (as cleric).
Special Abilities
1st - Attune weapon, armored arcana
2nd - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
3rd - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
4th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
5th - Greater combat casting
6th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
7th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
8th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
9th - Eldritch celerity
10th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
Class Features
The following are class features of the eldritch knight.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An eldritch knight gains no additional proficiency in any weapons or armor.
Spells Per Day: At every level gained in the eldritch knight class except for first, fifth, and ninth, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (metamagic or item creation feats, hit points other than those she receives from the prestige class, and so on), except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a eldritch knight, she must decide to which class she adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.
Attune Weapon (Su): Eldritch knights gain the ability to undertake a ritual involving a melee weapon that magically attunes the weapon with them, enabling them to use it as a focus for spells. The ritual takes a full day and requires material components worth five hundred gold pieces. An eldritch knight can only have one attuned weapon at any given time.
Eldritch knights gain numerous benefits with their attuned weapon. First, the special link between wielder and weapon offers the eldritch knight a +1 circumstance bonus to attack rolls with her attuned weapon. Second, the knight can incorporate the weapon into the somatic components of arcane spells she casts; she thus does not need a free hand to cast spells when holding her attuned weapon.
Third, the eldritch knight can store spells in her attuned weapon. This functions as though the weapon had the spell storing property, with the following exceptions. The eldritch knight may store multiple spells in the weapon, so long as the total levels of spells stored in the weapon do not exceed her class level (two 0th level spells count as one 1st level spell for this purpose). A weapon can only hold spells placed their by the eldritch knight attuned to it, and the spells stored only remain in the weapon for eight hours (at which point the magic energy binding the spell to the weapon dissipates and the spell is lost). Finally, the eldritch knight must announce that she is activating a stored spell before makes her attack roll; if she misses, the spell is wasted.
Armored Arcana (Ex): An eldritch knight ignores any arcane spell failure chance imposed by light armor.
Greater Combat Casting (Ex): A 5th level or higher eldritch knight may take 10 when making a Concentration check to cast a spell defensively.
Eldritch Celerity (Su): At 9th level and above, the eldritch knight can quickly raise her magical defenses quickly before combat. In effect, the eldritch knight gains a special version of the Quicken Spell metamagic feat. Once per round, she may cast any arcane spell whose effect is limited to the caster (that is, spells with a range of "personal" or targeted spells that the eldritch knight casts on herself alone) as a free action. Spells cast in this way use up a slot one level higher than the spell's actual level, and count against the normal limit of one quickened spell per round. Unlike the Quicken Spell feat, spontaneous casters can benefit normally from this ability.
Any comments would, of course, be appreciated, particularly with respect to the extents to which the class is balanced, to which it improves on the existing eldritch knight, and to which the class seems playable and fun.
Eldritch Knight (Revised Version)
Flavor text goes here.
Hit Die: d8
Requirements
To qualify to become an eldritch knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Feats: Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus (any melee weapon).
Weapon Proficiency: Must be proficient with all martial weapons.
Spells: Ability to cast arcane spells of 2nd level or higher.
Class Skills
The eldritch knight’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Swim (Str). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Ability Progression
Base Attack Bonus: Excellent (+1 per level, as fighter)
Strong Saves: Fortitude, Will (as cleric).
Special Abilities
1st - Attune weapon, armored arcana
2nd - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
3rd - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
4th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
5th - Greater combat casting
6th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
7th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
8th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
9th - Eldritch celerity
10th - +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
Class Features
The following are class features of the eldritch knight.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An eldritch knight gains no additional proficiency in any weapons or armor.
Spells Per Day: At every level gained in the eldritch knight class except for first, fifth, and ninth, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (metamagic or item creation feats, hit points other than those she receives from the prestige class, and so on), except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a eldritch knight, she must decide to which class she adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.
Attune Weapon (Su): Eldritch knights gain the ability to undertake a ritual involving a melee weapon that magically attunes the weapon with them, enabling them to use it as a focus for spells. The ritual takes a full day and requires material components worth five hundred gold pieces. An eldritch knight can only have one attuned weapon at any given time.
Eldritch knights gain numerous benefits with their attuned weapon. First, the special link between wielder and weapon offers the eldritch knight a +1 circumstance bonus to attack rolls with her attuned weapon. Second, the knight can incorporate the weapon into the somatic components of arcane spells she casts; she thus does not need a free hand to cast spells when holding her attuned weapon.
Third, the eldritch knight can store spells in her attuned weapon. This functions as though the weapon had the spell storing property, with the following exceptions. The eldritch knight may store multiple spells in the weapon, so long as the total levels of spells stored in the weapon do not exceed her class level (two 0th level spells count as one 1st level spell for this purpose). A weapon can only hold spells placed their by the eldritch knight attuned to it, and the spells stored only remain in the weapon for eight hours (at which point the magic energy binding the spell to the weapon dissipates and the spell is lost). Finally, the eldritch knight must announce that she is activating a stored spell before makes her attack roll; if she misses, the spell is wasted.
Armored Arcana (Ex): An eldritch knight ignores any arcane spell failure chance imposed by light armor.
Greater Combat Casting (Ex): A 5th level or higher eldritch knight may take 10 when making a Concentration check to cast a spell defensively.
Eldritch Celerity (Su): At 9th level and above, the eldritch knight can quickly raise her magical defenses quickly before combat. In effect, the eldritch knight gains a special version of the Quicken Spell metamagic feat. Once per round, she may cast any arcane spell whose effect is limited to the caster (that is, spells with a range of "personal" or targeted spells that the eldritch knight casts on herself alone) as a free action. Spells cast in this way use up a slot one level higher than the spell's actual level, and count against the normal limit of one quickened spell per round. Unlike the Quicken Spell feat, spontaneous casters can benefit normally from this ability.
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