Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Warrior-Mage Prestige Classes: which are viable & which are not
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 3392042" data-attributes="member: 8158"><p>There are now a lot of prestige classes out there that that try to wed the warrior and mage archetypes. Some are more viable than others. I haven't tried any of them, so I wanted to discuss them here along with some basic observations. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: Orange"><strong>Abjurant Champion</strong></span></p><p><strong>Source:</strong> Complete Mage</p><p><strong>The hook:</strong> A warrior-mage that focuses on abjuration spells.</p><p><strong>Levels:</strong> 5</p><p><strong>HD:</strong> d10</p><p><strong>BAB progression:</strong> Full</p><p><strong>Caster progression:</strong> Full</p><p><strong>Viability:</strong> Excellent. The requirements are steered towards a warrior who dabbles in magic (sort of the opposite of the eldritch knight in that respect), and that isn't lost upon entry to the class. The class features are pretty much just icing on the cake. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: Orange"><strong>Enlightened Fist</strong></span></p><p><strong>Source:</strong> Complete Arcane</p><p><strong>The hook:</strong> Combines an arcane caster with a monk; smack your foes with your scorching ray fist.</p><p><strong>Levels:</strong> 10</p><p><strong>HD:</strong> d8</p><p><strong>BAB progression:</strong> Medium</p><p><strong>Caster progression:</strong> Full except for 1st and 4th.</p><p><strong>Viability:</strong> Low. Monks are pretty mediocre combatants, and this class has even less to offer (no improvement to flurry of blows, for instance). Worse, this PrC requires 3rd-level arcane casting, which means a lot of levels in a low-BAB, low-HP class. Unlike its divine counterpart, the Sacred Fist, the class only offers medium BAB, and the prime ability scores of a sorcerer (Cha) or Wizard (Int) are dump stats for a monk.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Orange"><strong>Eldritch Knight</strong></span></p><p><strong>Source:</strong> DMG</p><p><strong>The hook:</strong> Not sure it has one, per se.</p><p><strong>Levels:</strong> 10</p><p><strong>HD:</strong> d6</p><p><strong>BAB progression:</strong> Full</p><p><strong>Caster progression:</strong> Full except for 1st</p><p><strong>Viability:</strong> Mediocre. Isn't much of a warrior, actually, as it all it really gets is a BAB boost. The class is largely obsolete due to the more attractive packages offered by classes (both prestige and base) that came after it. Still, if you're a wizard or sorcerer and you really gotta have a full BAB for whatever reason, this will do it. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: Orange"><strong>Havoc Mage</strong></span></p><p><strong>Source:</strong> Miniatures Handbook</p><p><strong>The hook:</strong> Cast a spell and make a weapon attack as a full-round attack action.</p><p><strong>Levels:</strong> 5</p><p><strong>HD:</strong> d8</p><p><strong>BAB progression:</strong> Medium</p><p><strong>Caster progression:</strong> Every level except 1st and 3rd.</p><p><strong>Viability:</strong> Good. If you wanna throw a fireball and cleave heads with a greatsword, this will let you do it--in the same round!</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Orange"><strong>Spellsword</strong></span></p><p><strong>Source:</strong> Complete Warrior</p><p><strong>The hook:</strong> Vanilla warrior-mage.</p><p><strong>Levels:</strong> 10</p><p><strong>HD:</strong> d8</p><p><strong>BAB progression:</strong> Full</p><p><strong>Caster progression:</strong> Every odd level</p><p><strong>Viability:</strong> Acceptable. This serves as a good baseline for a warrior-mage, as its requirements don't require a heavy investment in either warrior or mage (warrior-mage PrC's tend to be made or broken at the starting gate). However, it's debatable whetehr or not every-other-level spell progression is compensated for adequately by anything else the class gets. Channel spell is a very good single-target killer though.</p><p></p><p>Feel free to discuss. What else we got out there?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Felon, post: 3392042, member: 8158"] There are now a lot of prestige classes out there that that try to wed the warrior and mage archetypes. Some are more viable than others. I haven't tried any of them, so I wanted to discuss them here along with some basic observations. [COLOR=Orange][B]Abjurant Champion[/B][/COLOR] [B]Source:[/B] Complete Mage [B]The hook:[/B] A warrior-mage that focuses on abjuration spells. [B]Levels:[/B] 5 [B]HD:[/B] d10 [B]BAB progression:[/B] Full [B]Caster progression:[/B] Full [B]Viability:[/B] Excellent. The requirements are steered towards a warrior who dabbles in magic (sort of the opposite of the eldritch knight in that respect), and that isn't lost upon entry to the class. The class features are pretty much just icing on the cake. [COLOR=Orange][B]Enlightened Fist[/B][/COLOR] [B]Source:[/B] Complete Arcane [B]The hook:[/B] Combines an arcane caster with a monk; smack your foes with your scorching ray fist. [B]Levels:[/B] 10 [B]HD:[/B] d8 [B]BAB progression:[/B] Medium [B]Caster progression:[/B] Full except for 1st and 4th. [B]Viability:[/B] Low. Monks are pretty mediocre combatants, and this class has even less to offer (no improvement to flurry of blows, for instance). Worse, this PrC requires 3rd-level arcane casting, which means a lot of levels in a low-BAB, low-HP class. Unlike its divine counterpart, the Sacred Fist, the class only offers medium BAB, and the prime ability scores of a sorcerer (Cha) or Wizard (Int) are dump stats for a monk. [COLOR=Orange][B]Eldritch Knight[/B][/COLOR] [B]Source:[/B] DMG [B]The hook:[/B] Not sure it has one, per se. [B]Levels:[/B] 10 [B]HD:[/B] d6 [B]BAB progression:[/B] Full [B]Caster progression:[/B] Full except for 1st [B]Viability:[/B] Mediocre. Isn't much of a warrior, actually, as it all it really gets is a BAB boost. The class is largely obsolete due to the more attractive packages offered by classes (both prestige and base) that came after it. Still, if you're a wizard or sorcerer and you really gotta have a full BAB for whatever reason, this will do it. [COLOR=Orange][B]Havoc Mage[/B][/COLOR] [B]Source:[/B] Miniatures Handbook [B]The hook:[/B] Cast a spell and make a weapon attack as a full-round attack action. [B]Levels:[/B] 5 [B]HD:[/B] d8 [B]BAB progression:[/B] Medium [B]Caster progression:[/B] Every level except 1st and 3rd. [B]Viability:[/B] Good. If you wanna throw a fireball and cleave heads with a greatsword, this will let you do it--in the same round! [COLOR=Orange][B]Spellsword[/B][/COLOR] [B]Source:[/B] Complete Warrior [B]The hook:[/B] Vanilla warrior-mage. [B]Levels:[/B] 10 [B]HD:[/B] d8 [B]BAB progression:[/B] Full [B]Caster progression:[/B] Every odd level [B]Viability:[/B] Acceptable. This serves as a good baseline for a warrior-mage, as its requirements don't require a heavy investment in either warrior or mage (warrior-mage PrC's tend to be made or broken at the starting gate). However, it's debatable whetehr or not every-other-level spell progression is compensated for adequately by anything else the class gets. Channel spell is a very good single-target killer though. Feel free to discuss. What else we got out there? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Warrior-Mage Prestige Classes: which are viable & which are not
Top
