Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Mithroy Apr 30, 2015 17:56:49	I have praised 5E since it came out, but there is one gaping hole missing regarding the class I would like to play - Swordmage.   I have surfed the web for Swordmage builds thru multiclassing or reflavoring, participated in helping build custom classes to emulate the design, but I can never settle with any.   Today I went back to square one and re-examined the Eldritch Knight, but honestly its still too melee-oriented. There is little to no reason to not just make 2/3/4 melee attacks as your action each turn, and only having 1/3rd spell progression doesn't help. Additionally, there is zero spellcasting prior to level 3 without taking Magic Initiate at first level. Then not until level 7, when you learn War Magic, may you reliably cast in the same turn as when you attack.   What if we take away some of the melee aspect and add a dash more magic? I propose either or both of the following Class Variants:   1) At Level 1, replace all armor and shield profiencies with Eldritch Ward.   Eldritch Ward Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Intelligence modifier.   2) At Level 2, forgo learning Action Surge in favor of having a half-spellcaster progression instead of a 1/3rd spell progression. (possibly even being allowed to learn Spellcasting at level 2 instead of waiting until level 3)   This should ease the feel of  progression from level 1 to 10, but  I would like to hear a  public opinion before I tackle replacing extra attacks from 11th and 20th levels.   What do you think? Is this something you could see yourself playing? Do you think others would play it?
#2 cannonfodder Apr 30, 2015 19:22:52	Ward should be reworked to allow for Str Knights to work. Maybe 8+prof+int mod when not wearing armor. Weaker at the beginning where you can still wear heavier armor but it grows as you advance.   I'd keep Action surge and even the 1/3 progression just to be able to use any wizard school not just Abj and evo.   I'd place a change on War Magic where a cantrip/weapon attack would trigger the opposite as a bonus action
#3 durntaur Apr 30, 2015 20:02:49	If you're going to make this a class variant, the variant-specific aspects would/should start at L3, like the other fighter variants. The placement of related features have implications beyond just making a single-class build
#4 RCanine Apr 30, 2015 23:21:08	Mithroy wrote:
#5 daspian May 01, 2015 1:49:48	reviewing that swordmage class, the feature's seemed really cool, and nothing stood out as overly ridiculous with the features.... what caught my eye and made me cringe a little was the new spells and cantrips..   lightning lure 1d10 dmg and pulls 10ft regardless of the creature's size?... why not just make a copy of thorn whip but make it lightning damage? 1Lightning Lure dmg is better than the highest damage dealing cantrip "fire bolt" because it also has the benfit of having a pull... i'd reduce it to be the same thing as thorn whip just cause it's literally the exact same concept but just lightning damage and a reduced range. the reduced range is imo not an excuse to bump it up by that much damage, at the most i would say 1d8 is fine for the reduced range, but it still should only be able to pull a creature of Large or smaller sized.   as for the other spells... i think they are fine for the most part, i like that you included adding them to other classes spell lists, and they seemed really great thematically and flavor wise, filling all sorts of different swordmage spectrums and themes whether from a space/time focused one, to a hellblade type swordmage or even a necro-blade etc.   really the only thing left is wanting to see it in action via a playtest to double check its balance, cause nothing "screams" out as completely OP to me, except for that one cantrip, so everything else i'd love to try xD
(Reply to #5) Chameleon-X	daspian wrote:
#7 Mithroy May 01, 2015 15:09:37	I see people were not keen on my ideas and my thread got hijacked.   I still decided to work out fixes for extra attacks at level 11 and 20 so you can check out the full variant here if you like:   https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GDoysPpV-OYQXu4J3_VuW5JKRs2VHWJlEXYcvwwZC5U
#8 Chameleon-X May 01, 2015 15:27:56	Oh, sorry dude, didn't mean to jack your thread. I'll just go ahead and move my idea somewhere else.   As for your revisions, why not keep Action Surge? It's basically the Fighter's signature feature, and you can always use it to take the Cast a Spell action, so it still fits the concept of an Eldritch Knight. I'd just ditch Second Wind and replace it with spellcasting at Level 1, and give them the Warlock spell progression, like someone else suggested (though with daily slots instead of short rest slots).