Magus Class - v1.1.0 Update!

Good catch! I’ll have to fix that.

laserllama

Just so it's said, the Arcane Armory feature changes aren't reflected in the Class Table. I love your work, keep it up!

I love it when my characters can go out in a blaze of glory! Yeah, the class' spell list has a little wiggle room since I only included SRD spells - in my home games I'd make their spell list much larger (hideous laughter would be on there). If you played a Magus in a full campaign, you'd have more opportunities to customize your spell list a bit more (especially as an Arcanist Magi).

laserllama

I actually had no idea Order Spells could be swapped out, that's a nice little bit of flexibility. I got Tasha's through the feat, and realized Spellstrike is limited to Magus spells after the fact. The vampire's plan was to crash the ship into a large city in order to spark a war. I was at half health, and the vampire went first in combat, nearly killing my character in a single turn. That spell was my character's only chance at living long enough to reach the controls of the ship. I was able to keep the ship from hitting the city, but not from hitting the ground. My Magus went out heroically, and the vampire was hunted down shortly after having survived the crash. Good time.

That sounds like an awesome one shot! I was hoping you played an Arcanist - they definitely have the most utility of the three current subclasses. The ability to switch out your Order Spells on level-up will hopefully alleviate some of that as well. A hideous laughter spellstrike sounds like a pretty epic/hilarious way to disable a vampire. Did you both go down with the ship?

laserllama

The subclass spells did help a lot with providing some good out of combat options. I was playing a level 6 Human Order of Arcanist single class Magus. Besides me, there was an Alternate Ranger (yours) and a Bard, so it makes sense that I was standing out as doing the most damage. It was actually a pretty fun one shot. We performed a heist on an airship, which of course comes with all the fun social interactions you would imagine. My Arcanist subclass spells gave me a bit of utility in this area, allowing me to get keycodes by spying with my familiar. In the end, my party fled the ship as it was crashing while I confronted the extremely powerful vampire captain, who I was able to disable long enough with a Spell Strike Tasha's Hideous Laughter to steer the ship away from a nearby city before it crashed. Good time.

Thank you so much for your feedback! I'm glad it felt distinct from Wizard, but especially the Eldritch Knight. The design intent of the Magus was to be an "Arcane Paladin", so burst damage is to be expected (I think/hope). Unfortunately, the number of Spells Known is the same as other "Spells Known" half-casters (Ranger and my Alternate Artificer), hopefully, your subclass spells alleviated some of that! Out of curiosity, what was your character build (race, level, subclass), and who else was in your party? Doing more damage than a Vengeance Paladin is a little different than a Bard. Thank you so much for playtesting and your feedback!

laserllama

I did some playtesting of Magus last Saturday, and I have to say I really enjoy it. Its features are well rounded enough to be fun both in and out of combat, and its special abilities are enough of a spectacle to make a character feel distinct from your standard Eldritch Knight or Wizard. I'm getting a hint of that esoteric flavor that it seems you're going for. In terms of balance, I did notice that I was doing a significant portion of my party's damage, though I couldn't say if this is too out of the ordinary for a class with smiting/bursting abilities like this. Spellstrike provides an engaging opportunity to choose how I want to handle fights, which perfectly blends casting and standard fighting. I will say, the limited amount of spells known available feels very limiting, especially if I want to have both out of combat and in combat spell options, but I guess that's just how it is being a half caster. Anyways, cool class. I'll definitely be using it in the future, and I'm anticipating future updates/subclass expansion.

Alright, thanks.

It’s definitely not intended to be used like that, but as a DM I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I’d run it by your DM first.

laserllama

Would you allow a player to expend a spells slot to use a *cantrip* with Spellstrike?

Spellstrike seems like a more balanced ability now that that the target of the attack still gets to make their save against the spell (albeit with disadvantage) The change to aegis is good. its less niche now (not just spells, but now any magical effect) but it also isn't free, that seems like it would feel better to use from session to session instead of just making you really good at fighting spellcasters.

ranch_big

Just going to reply to all of your comments here. Thank you for checking it over! Darkness, Scorching Ray, and Sleet Storm shouldn't be Spellstrike spells. I'll make sure to update that. Contagion is definitely not an optimal spell, but it's one of the few high-level spells that require an attack roll so I felt like I had to include it as an option. Your point about Spellstrike and saving throws is a good one as well. I think I will change it so the target has disadvantage on their saving throw if you cast it through Spellstrike.

laserllama

Expanding on the question about Darkness, there is more spells that do not follow the rules put forth. Scorching Ray for instance technically generates 3 attack rolls as opposed to a single one. Sleet Storm only affects an area, and does not affect pool of hit points, nor does it require a saving throw apart from it's slippery effect.

Also, I believe the change to Spellstrike makes it just a somewhat better option in terms of Action Economy, but does not make it any better than just either attacking or casting specific spells. After all, why should I attack with a sword imbued with Fireball, if it only affects one creature, and there is no guarantee that they will fail their saving throw? I could as well just cast Fireball, and affect multitudes of enemies! Then there are spells like Banishment and Hold Monster where I would prefer to just spend the spell slot while I am at a good distance away from the enemy, even with a d10 hitdie, especially knowing it may fail. Risking my hide, making an attack, and having a chance for my spell to fail anyway seems like a bad trade for a lot of spells. The only spells that are good to use with Spellstrike after this change are spells like Magic Missile, Scorching Ray, and other spells that don't affect an area or impose a saving throw.

I don't believe this spell is really any good... It's extremely unreliable and easily resisted, but if you believe it fits, then sure. However when I was looking over the spell list, I did notice one potential error. Darkness is neither an attack roll, saving throw, or affects a pool of hitpoints, how come it is applicable for Spellstrike?

It makes for a great tier 4 Spellstrike spell.

laserllama

I am still confused by the inclusion of Contagion on this class. What is the reasoning?