D&D General the Imbued my crack at making an iconic arcane half caster.

[Mind of tempest]

The first questions are how you got magic and what makes you more than a multi-class so here goes
(I am terrible at making things sound cool over text)

why is it called the imbued?(note might translate it into another language to make it sound cooler.)
sorcerers are born magic, wizards study it, warlocks gain it through deals and who even knows where bards get it(I would suggest the power of rock but they are not often that cool.)
the key is the name, you were made magic through arcane augmentation, I have taken that basic idea from the witcher as it is rare but it has hit pop culture relevance.
making it more than a multiclass.
first the warskin: in another thread, I mentioned how it is odd we do not have a half caster who uses the monk/barbarian inbuilt armour this mechanic is that but it can be turned off for illustration purposes it is a second skin which is armoured(more can be refluffed as instant armour) so you can wear normal clothes under it and it magically armours over the top it is not made of metal but is as durable and get tough as you gain levels.
the iconic ability
like paladins getting smites and how the ranger would use its marking ability if it was not made badly the imbued gets its own iconic stuff that you can't gain from a fighter/wizard.
sadly I suck at naming things so it will have a basic name TRAP(working name if you got a better one please say)
whilst the paladin is not known for being tactical and the ranger is too guerrilla-focused and aiming for the weak spot the imbued is the thinking person's halfcaster so it gets abilities to incapacitate and makes the foe weaker so you know all the condition on the dm's screen over time they get all of them even turning people to stone at high levels.
on subclasses
I have no idea at all what to go with honestly but given that the whole class is in-universe made by morals it would make sense if its subclasses were a logical development of ideas of how we make combatants or units so how might we make a magic user to accomplish tasks that tend to at some point involve martial fighting?
base flavour and RP stuff.
thing like how did you end up being imbued was it some you joined was it forced, desperation?
do you think this is a gift, a curse a responsibility?
are you on good terms with the people who made you like this?, do you still work for them or have you slipped the leash?
base spells that come as standard are misty step to bounce around the battlefield and lots of touch range spells plus some ranged blasting stuff.
fitting it into settings
forgotten realms this class is an invention of the ancient elves and was used by the high magic human nations thought lost it has now been rediscovered with nations and city-states with a high arcane presence churning them out thay loves them as enforcers.
eberron, either made at the closing days of the great war or a recent development that might push the world back to war, likely made by an arcane group who is not a dragon mark house in an attempt to gain political standing
darksun(why not) the high solders of the dragon kings using them during the great purges to great effect but the secret has slipped out and many groups trying for power will make some to try to tip the balance in their favour.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

in oWoD Imbued were the characters of "hunter the reckoning" and they were pretty good gishes. They had martial (mostly melee) special abilities that allowed a 'normal' person to be imbued and hunt were wolves (in that system they were furry tanks...)

I would like it to be a half caster useing the artificer chart (so 1st level you get cantrips) a fighting style, a second attack and a good HD (I know It wont happen but d12).

Special abilities and spells JUST for the Imbued would make it better... the Agis effects of swordmage the spell strike ability of the dusk blade and the incenerary blade (throw melee weapon and it blows up then reforms) are all great things we can play with...

my qustion the armor/battle smith artificers can both use Int for weapon attacks, and hexblade can use Cha... do we want this to be a str/dex class?

 

[Stormonu]

This is my crack at a spell-user/martialist (the Battlemage). Haven't had a chance to playtest it yet, will get my first shot this weekend. Hopefully you find something of interest within its pages.

 

[Mind of tempest]

in oWoD Imbued were the characters of "hunter the reckoning" and they were pretty good gishes. They had martial (mostly melee) special abilities that allowed a 'normal' person to be imbued and hunt were wolves (in that system they were furry tanks...)

I would like it to be a half caster useing the artificer chart (so 1st level you get cantrips) a fighting style, a second attack and a good HD (I know It wont happen but d12).

Special abilities and spells JUST for the Imbued would make it better... the Agis effects of swordmage the spell strike ability of the dusk blade and the incenerary blade (throw melee weapon and it blows up then reforms) are all great things we can play with...

my qustion the armor/battle smith artificers can both use Int for weapon attacks, and hexblade can use Cha... do we want this to be a str/dex class?

no idea if giving it cantrips would unbalance it?

some of those might work best for a subclass feature likely to key off the trap resource.

it is an int caster, I am trying to make it able like the fighter to go either way on the dex-str scale might change how inbuilt armour works so it works of either str or dex with only your highest counting.

This is my crack at a spell-user/martialist (the Battlemage). Haven't had a chance to playtest it yet, will get my first shot this weekend. Hopefully you find something of interest within its pages.

thank you, it is still likely better than what I know how to make, but I also the common traps you feel into, it is a start if nothing else.