Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Devigod 01-31-08, 07:08 PM	Hey PrC Boardies! I've been working on this prestige class for a while, it is essentially a warmage/swordsage that bolsters their sword with spells. Their chief ability is arcane strike, slightly modified from the C. Warrior feat. Now, before you say "But this is just plain better than eldritch knight!" or "Tome of Battle is broken!" go away. I don't need you here. While more powerful than eldritch knight, this PrC is based mostly on the stats of the Jade Pheonix Mage, which is quite similar and official WotC material. Blademage Hit Die: d8 Entry Requirements To become a blademage, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Skills: Concentration 8 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, Tumble 4 ranks. Feats: Eschew Materials, Weapon Focus (scimitar). Martial Maneuvers: Must know one 2nd-level Desert Wind strike and 2 Desert Wind maneuvers of any level. Martial Stances: Must know at least one Desert Wind stance. Spells: Able to cast 2nd level arcane spells. Special: Armored mage (light), warmage edge. The blademage’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int) and Tumble (Dex). Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. BAB Fort Ref Will Man. Man. Stances Special Spellcasting Known Readied Known +1 +0 +0 +2 1 0 0 Arcane strike (1d6), slashing blades − +2 +0 +0 +3 0 0 0 Blademage stance, energy substitution +1 level arcane spellcasting class +3 +1 +1 +3 1 1 0 − +1 level arcane spellcasting class +4 +1 +1 +4 0 0 0 Arcane strike (1d8), elemental strike +1 level arcane spellcasting class +5 +1 +1 +4 1 0 1 − +1 level arcane spellcasting class +6 +2 +2 +5 0 1 0 − +1 level arcane spellcasting class +7 +2 +2 +5 1 0 0 Arcane strike (1d10) +1 level arcane spellcasting class +8 +2 +2 +6 0 0 0 − +1 level arcane spellcasting class +9 +3 +3 +6 1 1 0 Manacharge stance − +10 +3 +3 +7 0 0 0 − + 1 level arcane spellcasting classClass Features All the following are class features of the blademage prestige class. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Blademage gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor. Spellcasting: At each level except 1st and 9th, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you have also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class (usually warmage) to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. Maneuvers: At each odd-numbered level, you gain a new maneuver known from the Desert Wind discipline. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. You add your full Blademage levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known. At 3rd level, 6th level, and 9th level, you gain an additional maneuver readied per day. Stances Known: At 5th level, you learn a new martial stance from the Desert Wind discipline. You must meet the stance’s prerequisite to learn it. Arcane Strike (Su): Blademages are adept at empowering their melee attacks with spell energy. As a swift action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity, you may channel arcane energy into a weapon. You sacrifice one of your spells for the day (of 1st level or higher) to do this, but gain a bonus on all attack rolls equal to the level of the spell sacrificed, as well as extra damage equal to 1d6 points x the level of the spell sacrificed. This damage can be cold, electric, fire, force or raw arcane energy (untyped damage). The damage dealt by this strike improves to 1d8 x spell level at 4th level and 1d10 x spell level at 7th level. Slashing Blades: A blademage treats the scimitar as a light weapon (rather than a one-handed weapon) for all purposes including fighting with two weapons. Blademage Stance (Su): At 2nd level, you learn how to effectively weave arcane spellcasting and swordplay by utilizing one of your stances in a new way. While you are in a stance from any discipline you know, you can forgo its normal benefit as a swift action to gain the effect of blademage stance. This ability lasts as long as you would maintain the stance, or as described below. You can also stop using blademage stance and resume gaining the normal benefit of the stance as a swift action. While you use this ability, your caster level when you cast arcane spells is increased by 1, and you gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC. Any weapon carried by you is also treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Energy Substitution: At 2nd level, you gain Energy Substitution as a bonus feat even if you do not meet the prerequisites. Unprepared spells affected by this metamagic feat take no longer to cast despite being spontaneous spells. Elemental Strike (Ex): At 4th level, whenever you execute a Desert Wind maneuver or initiate a Desert Wind stance with the fire energy descriptor, you may choose to deal damage from a different type of energy instead. When you use the maneuver, you may choose to deal cold, electric or force damage instead of fire damage. The maneuver’s energy descriptor changes to the new energy type. Manacharge Stance (Ex): At 9th level, you learn how to deflect and redirect spells through the use of a stance that you know. While you are in a stance from any discipline you know, you can forgo its normal benefit as a swift action to gain the effect of manacharge stance. This ability lasts as long as you would maintain the stance, or as described below. You can also stop using blademage stance and resume gaining the normal benefit of the stance as a swift action. While this ability is active, you gain spell resistance equal to 10 + your blademage levels. Whenever a spell with an energy descriptor fails to penetrate your spell resistance, you may redirect the spell energy into an elemental aura. You gain an aura that deals 1d6 points of damage per redirected spell level to any creature within 10 feet (Reflex half, DC 14 + Cha modifier). Half the damage dealt by the aura is of the same energy as the redirected spell, and the other half is raw arcane energy damage (untyped damage). The aura deals damage each round at the beginning of your turn. Alternatively, you can choose to expend an arcane spell slot when you activate the ability to gain the aura effect. The aura, uses the sacrificed spell’s level instead as the base damage (1d6 per level). Once you activate the aura ability, the aura lasts for 1 minute, after which time the effect ends and the normal effect of your stance resumes. Thanks for reading that. I've been considering cutting the BaB to 3/4 and making Ref another good save, that would downpower it if it is too powerful. Any advice or feedback is great. I have a picture that I found and edited in paint, but I don't know how to post it, so if anyone knows how to do that, I'd appreciate the tech support. Let the PEACHing commence.
runestar 01-31-08, 08:00 PM	It seems very weak compared to the jade phoenix mage prc. Your spells and maneuvers appear to have little synergy with each other. See the JPM prc for inspiration on how to synergize them together (such as auto-quicken spells). I would also like to clarify some stuff. 1) Arcane strike - what is the duration? 1 hit? All hits within a 24-hour timeframe? 2) Not sure how useful energy sub is for a warmage, who already knows how to cast every spell on his list, and can thus choose the best elemental damage spell for the job. Plus, metamagicking any spell is a full round action, which clashes with maneuver refreshing and activation. 3) Manacharge stance is too weak. Sr = character lv? It will never work! At least make it 10+character lv or something, so it remains uniformly useful across the board. Push it back to 10th lv if you must.