Rich Baker on the Swordmage

[Terramotus]

Now, if only Swordmages were PHB T.T Well, so long as Swordmages are a lot like Duskblades form PHB2, I will be happy.

Agreed. The Duskblade, I think, is one of the coolest playing classes in 3.5, alongside the Bo9S classes. I think it's because of the multitude of swift actions available due to their spell list and the class ability. It makes using magic in combat rather seamless, and, at least at mid levels, I feel like there's always cool and interesting things I can do in combat.

Some of my favorites are a swift fly used to leap up into range to strike at a flying enemy, a dimension hop used to teleport a grappled comrade out of a T-Rex's jaws, and using the swift action class ability to make dimension hop swift so I could teleport out of a bad grappling situation as well. And, of course, a single round of swift invisibility (or more, if you're willing to pour the spells into it) lets one do all sorts of wacky stuff in combat

True strike made swift + power attack + shocking grasp channeled through a twohanded weapon to deal out a ton of damage FEELS more like I'm playing character that melds magic and swordplay more than any other class I've seen. And it's incredibly versatile with the powers it does have.

The class could certainly use a more robust spell list. It's lacking some utility, and the class looks like it might start to fade at higher levels, at least without using arcane strike. And it could stand a better thought-out skill list. But it's a great skeleton, and I've had a lot of fun playing one.

 

[Gort]

Huh. I thought the Swordmage was just a defender that used magic to do the defend-ing.

He also has some short-ranged magic powers. His weakness is a lack of long-range attacks.

 

[Khaalis]

My impressions to date are that the Swordmage is an Arcane Defender. Their primary role is the same as a Fighter or Paladin but they use arcane powers to do the job such as "use[ing] spells of armorning and protection instead of wearing heavy armor". As we've now seen they also use limited magical abilities to control the battlefield and deal damage. Their "spells are generally melee range and tend to augment his melee attacks." Notice that he short range teleported a foe he had just hit.

As to where it will appear...
* "We're working on some swordmage rules right now for a 2008 release."
* NOVEL = "Forgotten Realms - Blades of Moonsea, Volume 1 — Swordmage" (Hardcover - May '08)

Due to this information, I would bet that Swordmage is either released as part of the FR Player's Guide, or as a DDI release.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Man, I hope this infatuation with swordmage fades away. One of the worst things about 3E was the proliferation of base classes.

Take the swordmage. A guy who uses a sword, as well as magic. That's the concept.

And how exactly is this different from a multiclassed fighter/wizard? Why do we need an entirely new base class?

At best, the concept sounds like it'd be best suited as a "build" using existing classes--just like the various "Gish" builds that supposedly inspired the swordmage.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Man, I hope this infatuation with swordmage fades away. One of the worst things about 3E was the proliferation of base classes.

Take the swordmage. A guy who uses a sword, as well as magic. That's the concept.

And how exactly is this different from a multiclassed fighter/wizard? Why do we need an entirely new base class?

At best, the concept sounds like it'd be best suited as a "build" using existing classes--just like the various "Gish" builds that supposedly inspired the swordmage.

The thing is that some/many wizard spells and abilities don't neccessarily fit the idea of a "Swordmage"/"Gish". The spells/powers need a stronger relationship to the melee nature of the Swordmage. Many (often ranged) spells from the Wizard don't fit. (Fireball, Magic Missile, Hallucinotary Terrain, Dominate Monster, Wall of Stone). Others spells are perfect (Mage Armor, Mirror Image, Stoneskin).
In addition, there are certainly spells that don't make sense for a Wizard to have, but work good for a swordmage.

(In 3.x, the fact that multiclassed Fighter/Wizards sucked didn't help things, either, but that's an artifact of the 3.x system, not neccessarily a conceptual problem)

 

[Sitara]

See thats the thing!! They really need to do a base Warrior-mage core class, which can then be used to make swordmages, duskblades, hexblades, raumathari battlemages, eldritch knigts, etc etc.

Why wont they LISTEN?? GAH!

And yeah the phb 2 duskblade is cool, but needs more spells. Needds mage armor as well. A good trick is to multiclass with one level of sorc to get mage armor, and maybe multiclass with warblade to get kick ass maneuvers.

 

[FourthBear]

See thats the thing!! They really need to do a base Warrior-mage core class, which can then be used to make swordmages, duskblades, hexblades, raumathari battlemages, eldritch knigts, etc etc.

Isn't this exactly what is potentially being discussed in this thread? I understood that the Swordmage class was just that: a base starting class for a character who uses arcane power to achieve primarily martial goals. Perhaps all of the speciality classes you discuss will be possible to model with talents trees (or paths or whatever they decide to call them).

 

[Sitara]

Nope, the sswordsage is explicitly described by baker as a light-armored fighter with defensive and teleport spells.

A warrior-mage would be more generic, like the fighter or the rogue.

 

[Fifth Element]

And yeah the phb 2 duskblade is cool, but needs more spells. Needds mage armor as well. A good trick is to multiclass with one level of sorc to get mage armor, and maybe multiclass with warblade to get kick ass maneuvers.

Why does a duskblade need mage armour? Duskblades can cast spells in armour (progressively heavier armour as they advance in levels).

And if you're going to multiclass to get mage armour, you're probably better off to go with wizard, since both wizard and duskblade rely on Int for spells. Sorcerer uses Cha, which is otherwise relatively useless for a duskblade.

 

[FourthBear]

Nope, the sswordsage is explicitly described by baker as a light-armored fighter with defensive and teleport spells.

I see. Well, according to the blog the Swordmage is still in the early design stages, so perhaps they will decide to open up the concept more to allow more customization.