November 27, 2015

Warmage

Base Class
Comments from the Palm: This is an adaptation to/inspired by a class found on the Giant in the Playground by a poster by the name of Sineloke. The concept is rather simple: Expand on cantrip usage, and treat cantrips almost like a fighter treats his weapons. As such, this class has a LOT more in common with the fighter than a wizard, and works similarly (albeit even more simply) to the warlock.

Check out the Warmage Redux here!

And Don't Forget the Complete Warmage for even more options!


Warmage

Referring to a Warmage as a spellcaster both oversimplifies and overstates what they actually are. While wizards have their musty tomes, sorcerers their blood, and warlocks their unknowable patrons, warmages grasp their magic baluntly, but directly, as if they were grasping a sword, staff, or bow. Warmages are not subtle nor varied in their spellcasting, and eschew the larger, more complicated magics of their sorcerer and wizard brethren: as their name implies, they are dedicated almost single-mindedly to the art of war, and they have become very good at it over time.
     All warmages, without question, come from the College of Warmages, an academy dedicated to training the most powerful warriors in the world. Though there is a strict hierarchy within the school, adventurers are commonplace among graduates, and few restrictions are placed upon those who choose to leave to find their fortune: that is, provided they make a good name for the College.

Trained for Battle
Popular as mercenaries and peacekeepers alike, most warmages have an extremely narrow skill set which principally involves violence. Though there is always a place for warmages in society, they do not always find the most honorable of positions. For every warmage knight of a royal order, it seems two are vagabonds. However, the ones that demonstrate valor and courage, especially the adventuring type, are well rewarded in their travels by those in dire need of their skill in battle.

Peerless Spellcasters
Though within the College of Warmages only a handful are educated in true magic use, all are initiated in the Arcane. The College hones and sharpens the most elementary magic skills, reducing the art of magic into a trade practice. Chiefly for this reason, wizards and arcane scholars despise the work the College does, as it contributes nothing to knowledge of the arcane and spreads only the most dangerous and volatile types of magic. Likewise, the Generals of the College have little but disdain for most well known spellcasters, viewing them as decadent and superfluous relics.
     Still, the results are unarguable. The standing mercenary army fielded by the College has been the deciding factor in a number of major battles and wars throughout the years, and their practice of honing the most basic of magic has led to the creation of many powerful soldiers. This rote mastery of arcane magic makes them a force to be reckoned with.

Quick Build
You can make a Warmage quickly by following these suggestions. First, Intelligence should be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the soldier background. Third choose the cantrips chill touch, fire bolt, and mage hand, and the scholar Arcane Initiation.

 Level  Proficiency  Bonus Features Cantrips Known 
1st+2Spellcasting, Arcane Initiation, Arcane Fighting Style3
2nd+2Action Surge, Warmage Edge, Warmage Trick3
3rd+2Warmage House4
4th+2Ability Score Improvement4
5th+3Warmage Tricks5
6th+3Ability Score Improvement5
7th+3Warmage House Feature6
8th+3Ability Score Improvement6
9th+4Warmage Tricks7
10th+4Warmage House Feature7
11th+48
12th+4Ability Score Improvement8
13th+5Warmage Tricks9
14th+5Warmage’s Eye9
15th+5Warmage House Feature10
16th+5Ability Score Improvement, Warmage Trick10
17th+6Action Surge (two uses)11
18th+6Warmage House Feature11
19th+6Ability Score Improvement12
20th+6Master Warmage12


Class Features
As a warmage, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per warmage level
Hit Points at 1st level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at higher levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per warmage level after 1st

Proficiencies
Armor: Light Armor
Weapons: Simple weapons, longswords
Tools: One artisan's kit, one musical instrument

Saving Throws: Intelligence, Constitution
Skills: Two from: Animal Handling, Arcana, Athletics, Acrobatics, History, Investigation, Medicine, Perception, and Survival

Equipment:
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted to you by your background:
  • A dagger and (a) a longsword or (b) any simple weapon
  • (a) a light crossbow or (b) a shortbow
  • a quiver of (a) 20 bolts or (b) 20 arrows
  • Explorer's pack
  • (a) a traveler's pack or (b) one kit you're proficient in
Spellcasting
At 1st level, you begin to learn the simple, yet potent, brand of spellcasting for which warmages are known. See chapter 10 of the Player’s Handbook for general rules regarding spellcasting and chapter 11 for the wizard spell list.

Cantrips
At 1st level, you learn 3 of the following warmage cantrips: acid splash, blade ward, booming blade, chill touch, control flames, fire bolt, greenflame blade, gust, lightning lure, mage hand, magic stone, mold earth, poison spray, ray of frost, shape water, shillelagh, shocking grasp, sword burst, thunderclap, and true strike. You learn additional cantrips as  increase in level, as shown on the class table, which you select from the wizard spell list.
     Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the cantrips you know and replace it with another cantrip from the list above.

Spellcasting Ability
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your warmage spells, since you learn your spells through study and memorization. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a Warmage spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Arcane Initiation 
The college of Warmages takes in students from all walks of life, but only trains those that have some obvious aptitude in magic. At 1st level, you select an Arcane Initiation: where you first encountered the spark of magic. Choose one of the following:
     Scholar. You learned your spells and skills through study and practice, likely in a school or under the tutelage of a master. You gain a spellbook in which you may scribe ritual spells. You may cast these spells without using a spell slot, but you may only do so as a ritual. Additionally, you learn the cantrips prestidigitation and dancing lights.
     Sage. You learned magic in a monastery, church, or nunnery, or perhaps as part of a circle of druids. You learn the cantrips guidance, light, and sacred flame, as well as one 1st level cleric or druid spell, which you may cast as a 1st level spell without a spell slot. You must take a short or long rest before you can cast this spell again.
     Savant. You inherited your powers either by birthright or though magical happenstance/accident. In either case, you are less trained than others, but your magic flows out of you with surprising ease. You learn one additional cantrip from the Sorcerer list, and when you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for a warmage spell, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2.

Arcane Fighting Style
The college of Warmages teaches that magic is the purest of weapons, and can be wielded just as easily as any other. At 1st level, select one of the following fighting styles:
     Blaster: When you cast a warmage cantrip, increase its damage die by one step, to a maximum of d12. A cantrip that initially deals 1d12 damage instead deals an additional 1d4 damage per damage die. (Die progression is as follows: d4 -> d6 -> d8 -> d10 -> d12)
     Defensive: While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
     Deflector: When you are hit by a ranged or melee spell attack, you may use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to you AC, potentially causing the attack to miss. You must have one hand free in order to use this ability.
     Sniper: When making a ranged spell attack, you gain a +2 bonus to the attack roll.
     Striker: When casting a warmage spell requiring a melee attack, you deal an additional point of damage for each damage die of the spell.

Action Surge
Starting at 2nd level, you can push yourself beyond your normal limits for a moment. On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible bonus action. If you gain this ability from another class, your levels stack to determine how many uses of Action Surge you have between rests.
     Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. Starting at 17th level, you can use it twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn.

Warmage Edge
Beginning at 2nd level, when you deal damage with a warmage spell, you deal additional damage to each target equal to your Intelligence modifier.

Warmage Trick
Beginning at 2nd level, you learn a Warmage Trick, a special technique that alters the way you cast you fight, move, and cast your spells. You learn 1 trick at 2nd level, and 2 additional tricks at 5th, 9th, 13th and 16th level.
     Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can replace a trick that you know with a trick for which you meet the prerequisites.

Warmage House
The College of Warmages divides its students into distinct Houses, teaching different skills, abilities, and techniques. Upon reaching 3rd level, you may select your House from the following:
     Knight: The House of Knights teaches martial aptitude and melee combat.
     Bishop: The House of Bishops focuses on magical power and mastery of warmage magic.
     Rook: The House of Rooks focuses on discretion, subterfuge, and silence.
     King: The House of Kings teaches tactics, command, and battlefield control.
You gain your first House ability at 3rd level, and an additional one at 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th level.

Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 6th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. You can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Warmage's Eye
At 14th level, you can cast detect magic at will, without expending a spell slot.

Master Warmage
At level 20, you hit the pinnacle of your warmage skills. Whenever you cast a warmage cantrip, you may use your bonus action to immediately cast another one. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. You regain all expended used when you finish a long rest.


Warmage Houses
Within the College, different warmages are divided into separate Houses, each of which emphasizes a different approach to combat.

House of Bishops

The House of Bishops Focus solely on spellcasting, expanding the warmage principles to more complicated magic.

Spellcasting
At 3rd level, you gain the ability to cast spells more potent than cantrips.

Spell Slots. The House of Bishops Spellcasting table shows you how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you take a long rest.

Spells known of 1st-Level or Higher. You know three 1st-Level wizard spells of your choice, two of which must be from the Evocation or Conjuration schools.
     The Spells Known column of the table shows when you learn more wizard spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be from the Evocation or Conjuration schools, except for the spells learned at 8th, 14th, and 20th level.
     When you gain a level in this class, you may swap one of your spells known for a different spell, provided it is for a level you have spell slots in and it comes from either the Evocation or Conjuration Schools. You may select a spell from any school if you are replacing the spells you learn at 8th or 14th level.

Arcane Study
At 3rd level, you may select any two skills from Arcana, History, Medicine, Investigation, and Religion. You gain proficiency in that skill if you did not have it before, or double it if you already have proficiency in it.

Arcane Surge
At 7th level, you learn to squeeze more power out of your spells. When rolling your damage dice for a warmage spell, you may treat any 1 on a damage die as a 2.

Arcane Power
At 10th level, whenever you deal damage with a warmage spell, you deal an additional die of damage.

Arcane Aegis
At 15th level, you gain a personal field of ablative, protective force. Following a long rest, you gain a pool of temporary HP equal to 5 + you level. Whenever you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, you add a number of temporary HP equal to your Intelligence modifier to this pool, to a maximum of twice your level.

Arcane Mastery
At 18th level, you learn a powerful magical trick. Select a 1st level wizard spell you know: you may cast that spell without using a spell slot, as if you had cast it using a 2nd level spell slot.


House of Kings

The House of Kings trains the lieutenants and generals of the Warmage army, specializing in tactics and strategy.

Bonus Proficiencies
At 3rd level, you gain proficiency in medium armor, shields and lances.

Arcane Superiority
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you learn maneuvers that are fueled by special dice called superiority dice.
     Maneuvers. You learn three maneuvers of your choice, chosen from the Battlemaster maneuver list. You may use a melee or ranged spell attack in place of a weapon attack when activating a maneuver. If a maneuver grants additional damage, that damage is either Fire, Lightning, Acid, or Cold damage (your choice).
     You learn two additional maneuvers of your choice at 7th, 10th, and 15th level. Each time you learn new maneuvers, you can also replace a maneuver you know with a different one.
     Superiority Dice. You have four superiority dice, which are d8s. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain all of your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long rest.
     You gain another superiority die at 7th level and one more at 15th level.
     Saving Throws. Some of your maneuvers require your target to make a saving throw. to resist the maneuver's effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Maneuver save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Trusted Advisor
At 3rd level, you may use your Intelligence modifier in place of your Charisma modifier on Persuasion, Deception, and Intimidation checks.

Lead from the Front
Starting at 7th level, neither you nor any allies within 100 feet of you are affected by rough terrain. You must be visible for your allies to benefit from this ability.

Improved Arcane Superiority
At 10th level, your superiority dice turn into d10s. At 18th level, they turn into d12s.

Font of Power
At 15th level, when you roll initiative, if you do not have any superiority dice remaining, you regain 1 superiority die.


House of Knights

The House of Knights have a long and storied tradition of melding melee combat and swordplay with the warmage's simple spellcasting.

Bonus Proficiences
At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with medium armor and martial weapons.

Weapon Bond
At 3rd level, you learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.
     Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can’t be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.
     You can have up to two bonded weapons, but can summon only one at a time with your bonus action. If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.

Knight's Flurry
Starting at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack with your bonded weapon as a bonus action.

Combat Style
At level 10, you gain a fighting style, chosen from the following:
     Dueling. When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
     Great Weapon Fighting. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
     Two-Weapon Fighting. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Knights's Maneuver
At 15th level, instead of your normal movement, you may choose to teleport up to half your movement speed.

Master Strike
At level 18, after casting a cantrip, your bonded weapon(s) deals 1d6 additional damage of the same type as the cantrip you cast until the end of your next turn.


House of Rooks

The House of Rooks trains the spies, assassins, and secret operatives required to run an army.

Bonus Proficiencies
At 3rd level, you gain proficiency in shortswords, rapiers, whips, shortbows, hand crossbows, Thieves' Tools, and the Stealth skill.

Rook Strike
Beginning at 3rd level, once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d4 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse weapon, a ranged weapon, or a warmage cantrip.
     You don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.
     This extra damage increases to 2d4 at 7th level, 3d4 at 10th level, 4d4 at 15th level, and 5d4 at 18th level. At 10th level, you may make this extra damage Fire, Cold, or Lightning damage. At 15th level, you may make this extra damage Force damage.

Rook's Flight
At 7th level, you can take the Dash or Hide action as a bonus action.

Rook's Caw
At 10th level, you gain the message cantrip. When casting the spell, you may target a creature you know but cannot see, regardless of range, provided the creature is on the same plane as you and you have a personal item of theirs (a sigil, a token, a letter, etc.)

Rook's Wings
At 15th level, you gain the ability to fly at your normal movement speed. You must begin and end your movement on solid ground, otherwise you fall.

Rook's Flash
At 18th level, you can vanish from your enemy's eyes, appearing behind them and striking where they are most vulnerable. As an action, you may teleport next to a creature who is within 100 feet and make a single melee weapon attack or use a cantrip requiring a melee or ranged spell attack. You gain advantage on the attack roll. Once you use this ability, you must make a short or long rest before you can do so again.


Warmage Tricks
If a Warmage Trick has prerequisites, you must meet them to choose it. You can choose the Trick at the same time that you meet its prerequisites.

Bishop's Blessing
Prerequisite: House of Bishops
Select one of the following damage types: Cold, Fire, Lightning, Acid, Radiant, Necrotic. You may replace the damage type of your melee attacks and any Warmage cantrip you cast with the chosen damage type. You may learn this trick multiple times, selecting a new damage type each time.

Bishop's Maneuver
Prerequisite: Level 10, House of Bishops
You may take the Disengage action as a bonus action on any round in which you do not take any hostile actions towards another creature. Additionally, when you take the Disengage action, your movement speed is doubled.

Blasting Cantrip
Prerequisite: sword burst cantrip
When you deal force damage to a creature with a warmage cantrip, that creature must make a Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Booming Cantrip
Prerequisite: thunderclap or booming blade cantrip
When you deal thunder damage to a creature with a warmage cantrip, that creature must make a Strength saving throw or be shoved 10 feet away from you in a straight line.

Castle
Prerequisite: Level 10, House of Rooks
As a bonus action, you magically swap places with a willing Small or Medium creature who is within 100 feet of you, each of you vanishing in a burst of feathers before appearing in the other's previous spot. Once you use this trick, you must take a short or long rest before you can do so again.

Caustic Cantrip
Prerequisite: acid splash 
When you deal acid damage to a creature with a warmage cantrip, that creature must make a Dexterity saving throw or take half the damage dealt again at the start of its next turn.

Charged Blade
Prerequisite: shillelagh cantrip
Instead of targeting only a club or quarterstaff when you cast shillelagh, you may target any weapon. If the weapon's damage die was already 1d8 or greater, it now deals an additional 1d4 force damage on a hit.

Cloak of Feathers
Prerequisite: House of Rooks
While not wearing armor or using a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Intelligence modifier.

Commander's Call
Prerequisite: House of Kings
You may cast the spell command at will without using a spell slot.

Electrified Cantrip
Prerequisite: shocking grasp or lightning lure cantrip
When you deal lightning damage to a creature with a warmage cantrip, that creature must make a Dexterity saving throw or be unable to take bonus actions or reactions until the start of your next turn.

Elemental Crafting
Prerequisite: control flame, gust, mold earth, or shape water cantrip
You may craft weapons, armor, shields, and other simple constructs out of the 4 basic elements. As an action, you may cast control flame, gust, mold earth, or shape water, and shape a number of items up to your Intelligence modifier out of your chosen element. These objects last for an hour, or until you dismiss them. A weapon summoned using this ability has a damage type determined by the cantrip cast: control flames deals fire damage, gust deals lightning damage, mold earth deals acid damage, and shape water deals cold damage.

Entropic Cantrip
Prerequisite: chill touch cantrip
When you deal necrotic damage to a creature with a warmage cantrip, it must make a Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion. A creature cannot gain more than one level of exhaustion from this ability in a single day.

Explosive Cantrip
Prerequisite: fire bolt or greenflame blade cantrip
When you deal fire damage to a creature with a warmage cantrip, each creature except yourself within 5 feet of the target must make a Dexterity saving throw or take half the damage dealt. A creature in the area of more than one explosive burst is affected only once.

Field Medic
Prerequisite: House of Bishops
You learn the cantrip spare the dying and the spell cure wounds. Additionally, when you cast spare the dying, the target gains temporary hit points equal to your level.

Flexible Range
When you cast a warmage cantrip that requires a melee or ranged spell attack roll, you may choose to make it as either a melee spell attack roll or a ranged spell attack roll with a range of 120 feet.

Frigid Cantrip
Prerequisite: ray of frost cantrip
When you deal cold damage to a creature with a warmage cantrip, that creature must make a Constitution saving throw or its speed is reduced to 0 until the start of your next turn.

King's Stand
Prerequisite: Level 15, House of Kings
You may enter a state allowing you to make a final stand against an opponent. As a bonus action, you (and your mount, if you have one) gain resistance to all damage except Psychic damage and you gain advantage on all melee attacks. However your speed is reduced to 5 feet, regardless of enchantments or abilities that would otherwise raise it. You may maintain this stance as long as you maintain concentration on it, up to 1 minute. Once you use this ability, you must take a long rest before you can do so again.

Knight's Defense
Prerequisite: Level 10, House of Knights
When a friendly creature within 30 feet of you is hit by a melee or ranged attack, you may spend your reaction to move next to that creature and become the target of the attack instead, potentially causing the attack to miss. Once you use this trick, you must take a short or long rest before you can do so again.

Knight's Swing
Prerequisite: House of Knights
When you take the attack action on your turn, you may attack twice instead of once.

Knight's Ward
Prerequisite: House of Knights, blade ward cantrip
While you are wielding a one handed or versatile weapon in one hand and nothing in the other, your AC is increased by 2.

Magic Daggers
Prerequisite: magic stone cantrip
When you cast magic stone, you no longer require pebbles to enchant. Instead, you summon a number of magical throwing weapons equal to twice your Intelligence modifier, be they daggers, shuriken, darts, etc. These weapons float around you within easy reach until used, dismissed, or the spells duration expires. You may not have more weapons summoned at once than twice your Intelligence modifier.
     As an action on your turn, you may throw one of these weapons as a ranged spell attack. Each weapon deals 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier magical piercing, bludgeoning, or slashing damage (your choice), and has a range of 120 feet. You may not apply Warmage Edge to these attacks.
     You may throw additional daggers as an action at higher levels: 2 at 5th level, 3 at 11th level, and 4 at 16th level. You may throw a single dagger as an Opportunity Attack.

Queen's Charge
Prerequisite: Level 10, House of Kings
As an action, you may move up to triple your movement distance towards a creature, and may make a single attack against; if you hit, you may use a bonus action to cast a warmage cantrip at that creature, which automatically hits if it requires an attack roll. You may perform this action while mounted. Once you use this trick, you must take a short or long rest before you can do so again.

Rook's Perch
Prerequisite: House of Rooks
Your base movement speed increases by 10 feet, and you gain a climb speed equal to your normal movement speed.

Select Fire
When you cast a warmage cantrip that requires a spell attack roll, you may select multiple targets. You may target a number of creatures equal to the number of damage dice the cantrip deals, and split your damage dice up amongst your targets, to a minimum of 1 die of damage per target.
     Example: Fire bolt deals 3d10 damage. You may choose to target three creatures with 1d10 damage each, two creatures with 1d10 damage to one and 2d10 damage to the other, or one creature for 3d10 damage.

Skilled Hand
Prerequisite: Level 10, mage hand cantrip
You may use mage hand to wield a weapon you are proficient with up to 30 feet from you. On your turn, you may use a bonus action to make a single attack with the weapon your mage hand is wielding, using your spellcasting modifier for attack and damage rolls.

Unerring Strike
Prerequisite: Level 10, true strike cantrip
When you cast true stike, you may concentrate on it for a number of rounds equal to your Intelligence modifier. You gain advantage on the first attack roll you make against the target each round while maintaining concentration on true strike.

Venomous Cantrip
Prerequisite: poison spray cantrip
When you deal poison damage to a creature with a warmage cantrip, that creature must make a Constitution saving throw or become poisoned until the start of your next turn.



Changelog:
12/11/15: not sure what happened, but was making an edit and the post reverted to draft. Re-published it.
Also, made a change to magic daggers, reducing the number of attacks per round and adding a progression for 5th level, since you can take it as early as 2nd level now.
1/5/16: Ability Score Improvement: No improvement at 16th level, as it said in the description
1/27/16: Warmage Trick moved to 2nd level and trick progression changed
1/29/16: All is right. PDF and HTML is in sync with respect to Warmage Tricks. (They begin at 5th level with 2 tricks, with 1 at subsequent trick levels.)
I lied before: now everything is as it should be with the Warmage.  A number of changes were not properly in sync between the two versions, leading to confusion as to which changes were correct. The current version stands as:
Warmage Tricks start at 2nd level (1 trick), with 2 tricks at subsequent Warmage levels
ASI at 16th level for 4,6,8,12,16,19.
Magic Daggers start with 1 knife, 2 at 5th, 3 at 11th, and 4 at 17th.
5/7/16: Arcane Surge, Arcane Power, Electrified Cantrip: HTML changed to match cantrip
Tricks: Can change on level, not on learning new trick
6/19/16: Bishop Spellcasting table: Errors fixed

201 comments:

  1. i feel like i'm missing something with the house of bishop spellcasting ability, where it says you can cast more potent cantrips. is that it saying you get leveled spells?

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    1. Ah, that would be because I failed to include the html table. It grants spells more potent THAN cantrips, IE spells of 1st level and higher

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    2. The House of Bishops house abilities make your cantrips more powerful (specifically, the arcane Surge and arcane Power abilities)

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  2. Wondering... why is "Warmage Edge" level 2? It seems this is more fitting for a level 11 ability to be more in line with when Paladin gets Improved Smite.

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    1. We've done a lot of math on this one, actually. It works, since the entire class focuses on cantrips.

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    2. It's a lot like the Agonizing Blast warlock Invocation, actually.

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    3. So instead of having a 'trick' select-able at level 2 and an 'Agonizing Blast' equivalent being an option, you just auto-picked the 'Agonizing Blast' as the level 2?

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    4. Something like that. The design principle at play with this class is 'what if we designed a spellcaster like a fighter?' In order to keep damage on curve, you need to be able to add your ability score to attacks, so that's what this feature does.

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    5. Exactly right. Warmage Edge was a core feature of the 3.5 class, and was always going to be a core feature of THIS class.

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    6. I built a mock House of Knight and compared it to some Eldritch Knight, number. Both builds focus on 1-handed weapon and empty hand spamming Booming Blade and Greenflame Blade. House of Knight consistently came up with higher average damage than Eldritch Knight while giving up very little (just spell slots more or less).

      ~1 damage higher at 1 level, ~5 higher at 5th, ~8 higher at 11, ~10 higher at 17th, and ~13 higher at 20th. Do these numbers match your guys'?

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    7. I'll have to check the numbers, but that seems about right. The eldritch knight gets heavier armor, bigger hit dice, high ability scores, and actual spell slots (which shouldn't be taken all that lightly.) Warmage gets a little more damage in exchange for being more fragile and having less flexible spell options.

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    8. Knight’s Ward and maxed DEX brings AC back in line with EK. HK doesn't need Arcane Initiate to grab extra feats freeing up an ABSI/feat which can then be used for +2con/Toughness fixing the difference in HP. So really it just comes down to slightly smaller hit die, no second wind, and no spell slots.

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    9. If I find time tonight I may build a mock Bishop to compare to EK

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    10. A mock up of Bishop has 1 lower AC, but the damage still consistently trumps EK with ~4 higher at 5th, ~4 higher at 11, ~5 higher at 17th, and ~5 higher at 20th. Both have same spell slot progression, but different options for types of spells. HB has a slightly smaller hit die, no second wind, no extra attack (although is not necessary), indomitable, and teleportation, but is able to pick up a slew of nice trick combinations.

      I am sure the original handbook cantrips could use Warmage Edge, but it really seems like Booming Blade and Greenflame Blade should be exempt. I am unsure of what wording you would use if you decided to make the change.

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    11. You're forgetting that EK's damage spikes after level 11 due to extra attacks. GFB and Booming Blade are actually sub-par choices for damage as an EK, if that's what you're looking for.

      Ex.

      11 Eldritch Knight with 20 int, 20 dex, using a rapier, Shield and half plate Plate: 19 AC, 3 attacks for 3d8+21 damage per round.

      11 House of knight with 20 dex, 20 int, using Striking Fighting style, Dueling Fighting style, Greenflame blade, half plate, and a rapier: 19 AC, GFB + 1 attack per round for 4d8+21 damage a round.

      At level 11, the House Knight seems to be beating the EK by 1d8, but remember that the EK only needs Dex for this damage to be viable, whereas the HK needs both dex and int. To me, that's an acceptable trade-off.

      Also, to be fair, Bishops should be compared more to Warlocks than EK's, and there the disparity is not quite so high:

      11 Bishop with Firebolt and Blasting Style: 4d12+5, treat all 1s as 2s.(avg 31)

      11 warlock with EB and AB: 3d10+15. (avg 31.5)

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    12. You're forgetting that EK's damage spikes after level 11 due to extra attacks. GFB and Booming Blade are actually sub-par choices for damage as an EK, if that's what you're looking for.

      Ex.

      11 Eldritch Knight with 20 int, 20 dex, using a rapier, Shield and half plate Plate: 19 AC, 3 attacks for 3d8+21 damage per round.

      11 House of knight with 20 dex, 20 int, using Striking Fighting style, Dueling Fighting style, Greenflame blade, half plate, and a rapier: 19 AC, GFB + 1 attack per round for 4d8+21 damage a round.

      At level 11, the House Knight seems to be beating the EK by 1d8, but remember that the EK only needs Dex for this damage to be viable, whereas the HK needs both dex and int. To me, that's an acceptable trade-off.

      Also, to be fair, Bishops should be compared more to Warlocks than EK's, and there the disparity is not quite so high:

      11 Bishop with Firebolt and Blasting Style: 4d12+5, treat all 1s as 2s.(avg 31)

      11 warlock with EB and AB: 3d10+15. (avg 31.5)

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    13. GFB and Booming are not subpar for EK when you take in account additional damage riders, the dual-stat requirement does end up doing a few points of damage less to the primary target IF the secondary effect does nothing, but otherwise additional damage on GFB to the secondary target will be more than you missed out on, otherwise forcing the target to decide to stay put or take additional damage from Booming will better serve the party.

      Why shouldn't Bishop be compared when it is just as capable of being a front-liner as EK while only giving up a few things?

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    14. Because its actually not. No martial weapons (except longsword), only light armor, d8 hit die, lots of cantrips. That's essentially a warlock.

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    15. Hey guys,

      I was just reading on the House of Knights, and on this note, it does seem a little bit unbalanced.

      So, using similar stats to what the Palm mentioned, you have:

      Level 11 Warmage; House of Knights; DEX 20 and INT 20.
      Equipment: 1 Rapier and Half Plate.
      Tricks: Explosive Cantrip, Knight's Ward, 3 more of your preference
      AC: 19 = [15 + 2 (Dex. Mod.) +2 (K. Ward)]
      Blaster and Dueling Fighting Styles

      Using GFB on a single lone target (no enemies within 5 ft) and following with a melee attack:
      Damage: 2d8 + 2d10 + 19 [1d8+7 piercing; 2d10+5 fire; 1d8+7 piercing]

      This on a single target is already pretty hight damage, but nothing unheard of (Paladins or EKs). You are talking about a max roll of 55 damage.

      Now, the damage beings peak when there are two or more enemies at 5ft distance from each other.

      Main Target (on a failed Dex Save of DC 17)
      Damage: 2d8+2d10+(3d10)/2+21 [1d8+7 piercing; 2d10+5 fire; 1d8+7 piercing; (3d10+5)/2]
      The extra damage comes from the Explosive Cantrip Trick from the second target.

      Secondary Target (Also on a failed save)
      Damage: 3d10+(2d10)/2+7 [3d10+5 fire; (2d10+5)/2]

      Any other remaining enemies (failed save).
      Damage: (3d10)/2+2 or (2d10)/2+2 fire damage depending on placement.

      This leads to a max damage of:
      Main Target: 72
      Secondary Target: 47
      Tertiary Enemies: 17 or 12 depending on placement.

      And this can be done at will. And you still have 3 more tricks to play with. And with Fire Bolt, you can obtain similar results at range.

      On the other hand, even though the House of Kings does have some utility outside of battle and the maneuvers are useful; I feel it really sacrificed a lot of battle prowess for very little utility in role play. It seems similar to the Rouge->Mastermind archetype, but inferior.
      But that could be just my personal opinion.

      Anyways, hope you guys read this and maybe take it into consideration.

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  3. Note on the trick blasting cantrip, the cantrip is called "Sword burst".

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    1. Actually, looking at that trick, a Warmage 2/Warlock X is made very powerful by Eldritch Blast. In fact, this class grants benefits to any caster, but I could see a Sorcerer X/Warmage X/Warlock X getting pretty ridiculously powerful in the right ratios.

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    2. A specific thing to note that will change your mind on that: all of the tricks specify (or should, at least) that they can work with "Warmage cantrips" or "Warmage spells". Eldritch Blast is specifically NOT a warmage cantrip, which means that none of the tricks a warmage would get work with it.

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  4. Important note on the Action Surge: you say that the number of uses stacks with other classes, but fighter gets it at level 2. You could have 2 uses of action surge by level 4, and that's a little bit too strong.

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    1. And a second thing, the Bishop's arcane surge is strikingly similar to the Savant's feature, enough so that the bishop loses a lot of it's power because you could take the savant and roll into another school

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    2. Going to keep the rest of the problems i notice in one comment:

      the knight school has two fighting styles, great weapon fighting and two weapon fighting, that does not leave a free hand open to cast spells. Some cantrips don't have somatic components yes but those that do are then unable to be taken if the knight chooses to use either of these fighting styles.

      Again with the knight, it's level 18 ability adds 1d6 damage to their weapon attack of the element their last cantrip was. Could that stack on itself? Use shocking grasp, (knight's flurry) weapon attack with the +1d6 lightning damage. Then action surge and use greenflame blade with a +1d6 lightning,(knights flurry) weapon attack again and apply the +1d6 fire and +1d6 lightning.

      That's all I can see immediately, over all I really like this class, but it has some problems that need to be hammered out :)

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    3. On action surge: Your levels stack to determine action surge, not your uses of action surge. In other words, a warmage 3, fighter 2 would count as level 5. Since a warmage gets 2 uses at level 17, he doesn't get two uses.

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    4. Bishop's Arcane surge differs in that it can apply to all spells, not just cantrips, but point taken; it's pretty similar. I'll try to figure out something that fulfills the same purpose, but feels mechanically different.

      I'll fix the knight's somatic component thing.

      Master Strike can stack if you cast more than one cantrip before you attack. The extra damage's duration does expire at the end of your next turn, however, so it won't stack indefinitely. I don't see this as a problem, more of a feature.

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    5. 'the knight school has two fighting styles, great weapon fighting and two weapon fighting, that does not leave a free hand open to cast spells. '

      Actually, I'm pretty sure they said in errata that 'Two-Handed' only applies while attacking with the sword. As for the two-weapon one, they could take warcaster feat. That's all I got to add.

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    6. Just double checked, yeah, it's in the Errata.
      'Two-Handed (p. 147). This property is relevant only when you attack with the
      weapon, not when you simply hold it.'

      My issue with the class is that you opted for intelligence, where before it was a Charisma based class. Making me hesitate to bring over a 3.5E Warmage to the 5E system.

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    7. I thought that was covered in sage advice, but I couldn't remember it. I'll rollback that change soon.

      Feel free to exchange Intelligence for Charisma in your own game. This is a pretty different spin on the class than the 3.5 version, so we opted to make it Int based for theme and balance.

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    8. Int basis is more for theme rather than balance. The INITIAL idea was to have your Arcane Initiation determine your spellcasting stat (Int for Scholar, Wis for Sage, Cha for Savant), but I felt thst it was adding even more complication to a class with a lot of choices already.

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    9. I think INT based makes more sense for the game as a whole anyway. If we were to assume that this was added to the game, that means we have 3 CHR based classes (Bard, Paladin, Sorcerer), 2 (or 3) WIS based classes (Cleric, Druid, sort of Monk), and now 2 INT based classes (Wizard, Warmage), unless you count the unfinished psionic class from that Unearthed Arcana article.

      INT feels like the red-headed step-child of 5th edition to me. So I'm glad you went with INT.

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    10. Our next base class, the Alchemist, will be Intelligence based as well, though it won't be a spellcaster per se

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    11. Would I be correct in guessing that the alchemist will be functionally similar to the Weaponsmith fighter?

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    12. Not even a little. We wanted to stay away from inventory management and endless crafting as much as possible. It follows some of the conventions that the Pathfinder Alchemist set, but we've made this one our own in a lot of ways. No precise eta yet, but expect it before Christmas.

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  5. How does bishop's arcane power feature function with spells such as magic missile or scorching ray which have multiple projectiles? Does each projectile gain the extra damage die or does only one of them do so?

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    1. By RAW, you only gain one additional die of damage for the spell, so you can apply it to any one target you choose.

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    2. I would say that it should apply once to each target affected by the spell.

      For example, a Fireball cast by a Bishop Warmage would deal 9d6 damage to all targets. Scorching Ray cast by a Bishop would deal 2d6 damage per beam +1d6 damage to each target. I'll reword the ability to reflect that.

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  6. nitpicking but, bottom left of first page is some seemingly randomly bolded text

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    1. I don't think that's in the actual PDF. It looks like an artifact of Google Drive thumbnail compression.

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    2. On closer inspection, it is not bolded text, but rather it is a different font.

      Majority of the paragraph is Calibri, but the last sentence is in Georgia.

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    3. Great catch! I couldn't see it when I got zoomed in. Fixed.

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  7. The wording of "Explosive Cantrip" is a bit confusing. How is damage for secondary targets calculated?

    What I mean by this is: If the original target succeeds in a dex save that would reduce the damage to half, would the secondary targets again reduce the damage by one half, effectively making them take 1/4 of the original damage if they fail a sex save? And what happens if the original target had the ability to take no damage on a passed save, would secondary targets even have to roll a dex save?

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    1. Resolve the damage to the target creature as normal, including the saving throws for half or none, if applicable. If you deal any damage, creatures within 5 feet make a save for half of that damage.

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  8. Another odd thing I noticed is the lull at level 14. Other than Bishop who gets a new spell known, none of the other Houses get a single thing at that level. Maybe add a ribbon ability?

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    1. I'll totally put something in there. I was thinking detect magic at will, but that might be a little too powerful.

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    2. Could model it after Paladin's Divine Sense which is 1 + MOD then decide from there if it is too much or not.

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    3. Preferably, I want to keep this feature very short, and Divine Sense differs enough from conventional detect magic that it would have to be a longer feature to work. What about just allowing detect magic as a ritual?

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    4. Model the bulk of the feature like an invocation, but set the actual limit of uses to what Divine Sense offers?

      Something like:

      You can cast Detect Magic without expending a spell slot.

      You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your Intelligence modifier. When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.

      Might be able to shorten it even more to:

      You can cast Detect Magic a number of times equal to 1 + your Intelligence modifier without expending a spell slot.

      When you finish a long rest, you regain all expended uses.

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    5. On second thought, Warlock already has an invocation which just gives detect magic at will. Would it be too powerful to just copy it verbatim and give it a new name?

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    6. I was questioning the power of it too, but I think it'll probably be fine to copy it verbatim. I'll update it in a couple of minutes.

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    7. Nitpick, I suppose, but "Eldritch" really is more of a Warlock feel. For the purposes of this class, "Arcane" would be a better term.

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    8. When I said verbatim, I suppose I forgot you would want to add in the level it is gained in the description. Whoops!

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  9. I definitely like this class a lot. I feel like it addresses the biggest issue I have with 5th edition so far (keep in mind I'm loving 5th edition for the most part). It just has so many options for really personalizing the class to your character, both from a mechanics perspective and an RP perspective, while also letting you really intertwine the two. I feel like my Warmage would be very, very different from anyone else's Warmage.

    Great work on this one.

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  10. If a Bishop takes Bishop’s Blessing choosing fire, then casts Sword Burst on a group of 4 enemies while having Explosive Cantrip and choosing to do fire damage with Sword Burst. Assuming all 4 enemies took the fire damage, how many times does Explosive Cantrip trigger? 1 time or 4 times?

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    1. RAI, it should only trigger on one target. RAW, I guess it would trigger like 4 times. I'll adjust this to clarify that it only works if the cantrip damages a single creature.

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    2. Honestly, I have very few problems allowing all to hit. It's a great combo, especially because it requires the Bishop to be in melee, the exact place he doesn't want to be.

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    3. I changed the wording to emulate the wording for Meteor Swarm. This allows you to still use it with Multi-hit cantrips (Sword Burst, GFB, Fire Bolt while using Select Fire), but doesn't cause multiple instances of damage.

      So, for the example given, all 4 enemies would proc the explosion. Since they are all within 5 feet of an explosive blast, they would each make a dexterity save for half of the damage dealt. They would not make more than one save for damage, despite being in range of multiple blasts.

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    5. I like the compromise The Palm suggested made between damage and flavor.

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    6. Going off of this, can you use explosive cantrip with this by using shillelagh to get an additional d4 with your melee attack via charged blade. I would think so since you are dealing fire damage (via Bishop's blessing) from a cantrip (shillelagh) through your sword (charged blade) Can I do this?

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  11. Another Bishop's Blessing combo... is Bishop’s Blessing(Lightning) + Electrified Cantrip + Sword Burst(Lightning) for repeatable AoE restrain intended?

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    1. That is a problem. I think the problem here is that Electrified Cantrip deals the restrained condition, which is pretty powerful compared to the other things on offer. I mean, it's way more powerful than frigid cantrip, for example, which only reduces speed, as it does the same thing, and also imposes disadvantage on the target's attacks and gives you advantage on attacks against it.

      I'll probably replace restrain with something like 'cannot take reactions or bonus actions'.

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    2. You make a solid point. It IS supposed to be a thematic increase to (specifically) shocking grasp's "can't take reactions" rider, but its definitely more powerful than frigid cantrip.

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  12. King doesn't have an 18th level feature.

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    1. Similar to the Battlemaster, his Superiority dice increase a step at 18.

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  13. This feels extremely unbalanced. At first glance this is stepping heavily on the fighters toes. Granting this class the action surge ability really sticks it to the fighter, as that ability was one of the things that helped it keep up in damage when compared to the other strikers.
    Warmage Edge is not concise. Does this damage effect targets adjacent, does it effect all targets in 30 feet, etc. Regardless it is a significant power spike, especially if it is applying the entire damage to secondary targets. This class gets double the amount of cantrips that any other class gets, multiple steroids to boost them, as well as multiple fighter class features, wizard features etc etc. While the Battle Mage is a cool idea and has potential, this iteration of it makes the fighter virtually obsolete, encrouches on the wizards territory, offers way to many bonuses to it`s abbilitie, of which too many are taken or reflavored from the fighter and wizard. It almost feels like someone got tired of having to multi class between a fighter and wizard to get a battle mage, so smashed the favorite bits of them together, sprinkled in a health dose of buffs and called it good. I really do hope that this gets fine tuned to be in line with the other classes in the PHB, because i really enjoyed 3.5`s battlemage and would like to see a version of it in 5e.

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    1. The idea behind this class is to use cantrips like a fighter uses his weapons, so it does have a lot in common with the fighter, and this is no accident.

      I'm concerned that you use the phrase 'unbalanced' quantifying what you mean. The class's damage output is a little higher than a fighter, and has lower survivability to balance that. (I mean to say that we're not spit-balling here; we've done a lot of math to put this where we want it to be in terms of damage. Furthermore, this class is being actively playtested, and plays very differently than fighters.)

      Warmage's edge was a 3.5 feature, currently based on the warlock's agonizing blast, but generalized to apply to all cantrips. It applies to each target that takes damage from your cantrip.

      Lastly, I'm not sure that we're on the same page as to the class we're converting. You seem to think that we're porting the 'battlemage' from 3.5, which is not the name of a class, unless you mean the Raumathari Battlemage, which was a class that offered the ability to channel 1st level or higher spells through melee attacks (something the Eldritch Knight can currently do.) This is a conversation of the Warmage, which in our iteration doesn't even get 1st level spells, but relies on more powerful cantrips. Hopefully that clears up some confusion.

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    2. I agree. I would strongly encourage you to try playtesting one of these before you make your final judgement call.

      I'll go so far as to say that I don't think these guys have higher overall damage potential than a fighter, at least not where single targets are concerned.

      Let's take the two highest damage options I can think of on here: A crossbow fighter with Crossbow Master and Archery fighting style and a Bishop using Magic Knives with the the Blaster arcane fighting style, with 20 dex and 20 int respectfully.

      Archer: 4 attacks, +13 to hit, 4d10+20 damage

      Warmage: 4 attacks, +11 to hit, 8d8+20 damage

      From here, the Warmage clearly wins as far as average damage is concerned. However, consider that the archer still has the option of using Sharpshooter, and the numbers change a bit:

      Archer: 4 attacks, +8 to hit, 4d10+60 damage

      And you see that the fighter can still blast past this guy with few problems: This still doesn't take into account the fighter's subclass. Other warmage builds have quite a bit lower damage, since the Bishop's 10th level ability is such a boost to the Magic Knives ability.

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    3. Also, keep this in mind: the Warmage in the example is dealing 56 avg damage to a single target in a round. This is exactly equal to a Warlock using Hex and eldritch blast, and requires about the same amount of action economy.

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  15. 'm wondering how the Rook Strike's Math compares to your Spellwarp Sniper Archetype, and if it might be possible to raise the dice level from a d4 to a d6. For me it's not so much a matter of power boost as it is a matter of a general dislike towards rolling a d4 in general, and more pointedly, multiple d4 dice at a time.

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    1. If you're against using d4s, you can roll d6s and subtract 1 for each die rolled to achieve the same amount of damage on average.

      I checked the rooks damage output myself at some point (though I can't remember the precise numbers.) It deals less damage than a rogue, but it fits very nicely into the scheme of things, so I think we are happy where it is

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    2. Thanks. Also, as a side note, Warmage's Eye should say you get it at 14th level in the text.

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    3. Good catch. I'll fix that tonight sometime

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    4. The math checks out to keep them in line with rogues, which was the intent. I do all of my calculations with the Magic Daggers ability, because it is the only option a warmage has that allows multiple instances of static damage.

      Rook with Magic Daggers and Blaster style: 4 attacks, 4d8+20+5d4 damage (avg: 50.5)

      Rogue with twin shortswords: 2 attacks, 12d6+5 damage (avg: 47)

      Granted, this is a basic rogue, and there are several things one could do to boost the damage in his favor. (taking one level of fighter for TWF style immediately boosts the average damage to 52, Sharpshooter + Crossbow Master + hand crossbow causes damage to skyrocket, etc.)

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  16. Castle is awesome, I was going on about SCAG cantrips till I noticed yall had them. This is a really interesting class and while I had assumed it would be a simple Wizard or Fighter Archetype it's interesting to see it take a life of it's own. I normally stick to beefers but you guys had made Rook a very tempting option.

    The chess piece flavor is very fun. I feel sort of bad for Pawns and Queens but I can see it must have been a challenge picking which class was which. Bishops are on point since in Chess they often feel like snipers. Rooks I always felt were the biggest brute force piece in chess as they are predictable straight moving towers, but also the Animal Rook highly resembles this style. It looks like it was a lot of fun to build.

    At first glass it seemed like Savant outclassed the other options but dropping a level 1 AOE spell with Warmage's Edge buffing it seems pretty potent. For Scholar it just says ritual spell unless I'm missing something. Is it addressing a ritual spell of a particular level? Wasn't entirely sure there. Like was it Ritual spell a Wizard of the Warmages level could cast. That kind of thing.

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    1. This gives you the ability to cast rituals, but doesn't give you any right away. You can learn them like a wizard by putting them into your spellbook.

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    2. If You Ever do consider a Pawn Archetype, I like the idea of a Defensive version of this class. Focus on Shield defense, blocking Magic attacks, and drawing the enemy towards you, then having abilities like setting off a Warmage Cantrip as a Reaction to an attack missing you, or being able to cast Protection from Energy a certain number of times.

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    3. So, I had put some thought into both Queens and Pawns while building this, and this is what I came to:

      • Queens and Kings come from the same school, that of the Kings. Males or masculine students call themselves Kings, females or feminine students call themselves Queens. This is why the Kings gain access to both Queens Charge and Kings Stand.

      • Pawns are not a house proper: they are what warmers are called before they pick a house. Pawns are still dangerous, and can still kill any piece given the chance, but they do not yet have the specialized skills of the other pieces.

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  17. How much gold would the character get if the player decided to role independently? I would guess it would be one either that of fighter(5d4+10) and that of wizard(4d4+10)

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    1. Right, it would be between those. Since they're only 1d4 apart, I would just ask your DM which he prefers.

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  18. Noticed a discrepency with ability score improvements. On the table it lists them as being acquired at levels 4, 6, 8, 12, and 19; while in the description it also lists them as gaining one at level 16. As that would give them six improvements instead of five you might want to fix that.
    Though I am curious as to why they get their increases so front loaded. I'd think that would unbalance low level combat.

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    1. Good eye! No ability score improvement at 16th level. I'll correct the description

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    2. Actually...that was a typo on my part. They were supposed to get one at both 6th and 16th. This is intended because they're supposed to emulate fighters and rogues more than actual mages.

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    3. Also, typo in the Magic Daggers ability: it should gain an additional attack at 17, not 16.

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    4. Also, typo in the Magic Daggers ability: it should gain an additional attack at 17, not 16.

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  19. Are the melee attacks in King's Stand effected by Flexible Range?

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    1. King's stand effects all melee attack rolls, whereas flexible range effects spell attack rolls. So, you can reduce something like Fire Bolt to a melee attack range, then use King's Stand on it, but you can't take a melee spell attack like Shocking Grasp, get advantage on it, then give it range (because then the attack would no longer be a melee one.)

      Hope that answers your question

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    2. Yeah very clearly. And you caught the exploit I was looking for.

      I'm honestly having a hard time with Knight's Swing. It's kind of crazy getting extra attack so early but like. When does this class ever take the Attack Action? This would be like straight martial and never casting cantrips if they went for this playstyle it seems to me.

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    3. I mean, you get extra attack at 5th level (that's when the first trick comes online after getting into the House of Knights), so I wouldn't call it early.

      As for playstyle, you would have to ask the Palm. He actually playtested this class using that particular subclass for quite a few sessions.

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    4. My use of Extra Attack varied. Normally, I was simply spamming Booming Blade/GFB, or using Lightning lure followed by a bonus action melee attack. That being said, when the DM dropped a Flame Tongue in my lap, using extra Attack every so often really helped.

      Also, while the Cantrips are nice, Extra attack allows for more Strength or Dexterity based builds

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    5. My use of Extra Attack varied. Normally, I was simply spamming Booming Blade/GFB, or using Lightning lure followed by a bonus action melee attack. That being said, when the DM dropped a Flame Tongue in my lap, using extra Attack every so often really helped.

      Also, while the Cantrips are nice, Extra attack allows for more Strength or Dexterity based builds

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    6. Thanks for getting back to me. That seems pretty reasonable. It seems like it'd be pretty low impact unless you did get a random magical item but having more options is never a bad thing.

      And yeah, my bad I didn't realize that you'd have had to have the house to get the trick

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  20. I noticed a class by the name of Warmage appear in the DM Guild shop. Was wondering if it was your Warmage or just someone who happened to pick the same name.

    On a related note, are you guys planning to put future content into the DM Guild shop?

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    1. We haven't released any content into the DM guild, but the Warmage was a class in 3.5, so it also probably took from that inspiration.

      As far as we know, you can't release material under the DM Guild and the OGL, but (and I can't say too much on this point) we're looking toward OGL

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    2. That is, if Wizards lets us keep our name. I've made an official request to use 'Vecna' in our name, but it'll probably take 6 weeks before I know.

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  21. I'm really curious where the cantrips booming blade, gust, lightning lure, magic stone, mold earth, shape water, sword burst, and thunderclap all came from. The official Player Handbook doesn't list them. Were they from 3.5 or something? Or are they homebrew?

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    1. Those are from Sword Coast Adventures Guide. The class is perfectly playable if you simply ignore the spells you don't have access to. In fact, we may release an alternate version of this class which omits them for PHB only games.

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    2. Ahh, I see. I haven't had a chance to look through that yet, but a lot of the spells sound fun. This class pretty much perfectly covers an NPC I was wanting to make, but those wind/lightning cantrips are ones I am really wanting to learn about.

      Otherwise, I'm really liking this class. I'll definitely try it out in my campaign!

      Delete
    3. BB, LL, and SB are all from the SCAG; Magic Stone, Mold Earth, Shape Water, and thunderclap are all from Elemental Evil

      Delete
  22. In the google doc it says you get 2 additional warmage tricks at 5th, 9th, 13th & 16th level. Then in the blog text it states you only get 1 trick at 9th, 13th & 16th, so there is some discrepancy there. Just wondering - which is the correct progression?

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    1. I'm pretty sure the PDF has the correct version here. Normally, the HTML is to be trusted, but there was a hiccup with this post and a lot of the changes in the post were unwritten. I'll change it to match

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    2. The text has the correct version. After playtesting, I realized they got far too few tricks.

      Delete
    3. Crap. I'll roll back the changes soon

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    4. I temporarily misunderstood the Palm's comment there. Things are all now fixed.

      Delete
    5. You're gonna hate me: Magic daggers needs one more fix. It still says "as an action, you may throw two daggers" at the start of the ability. That needs to be changed to one. Probably doesn't need an additional changelog update, though :-)

      Delete
  23. I don't know if they were intentionally missed, but what are the details around multiclassing with the warmage?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I wouldn't say it's intentionally missed, but we plan to include this type of information if we ever release some sort of complete warmage. All the stuff that isn't included in the class entry section of the PHB will basically be relegated to that priority level

      Delete
  24. Is there a reason for the lack of an 18th level House of Kings feature?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This takes its cue from the Battlemaster, as does a lot of that subclass's design. It gets d12 superiority dice at this level, but no independent feature.

      Delete
    2. Ah, alright, thanks! I figured it probably wasn't a mistake since you guys are so good about making edits, but I couldn't catch why it wasnt there. Big fan of the blog by the way, and great class too!

      Delete
  25. Can your Charged Blade (or just regular Shillelagh) be used as your bonded weapon? I don't know if that would be too powerful, but it would be counter intuitive to take away a great melee option from the melee focused house. Your thoughts?

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    1. To clarify, I'm wondering if it's compatible with the Knight's Flurry and Master's strike features.

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    2. The weapon you use as your focus for Shillelagh can be your bonded weapon, and is compatible with Knight's Flurry and Master's Strike.

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  26. Hey there! Can I firstly say: I showed this to my friend, and we GEEKED OUT for a good twenty minutes over this class. The options and customization are superb, the Chess theme is fresh and flavorful, and I get all giddy when I start thinking about all the possible amazing characters one could make with this. Almost makes me want to scrap my current campaign idea in favor of making one where all the PCs come from a Warmage College!
    A Few quick questions, though:
    1. With Blasting Style, does that, say, increase the extra die of Force Damage you get from a Charged Blade Shillelagh? And does it also affect the damage die of the Magic Dagger trick (1d6 -> 1d8 per dagger)?

    2. From the Scholar initiation, are you able to scribe rituals from all classes, or just Wizard ones?

    I had a few more, but I looked through the comments real quick and got a general consensus. Thank you for making this! The class really shows the love and effort you put into it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you liked it, I really loved the outcome too. it's getting a refresh in the next couple months to make it OGL compliant(meaning getting rid of anything related to the SCAG or Elemental Evil), so look forward to new stuff!

      Onto answers:

      1. No it does not, nor does it increase the damage of Shillelagh itself. As for magic dagger, RAI, it does increase that damage. The difference here is that Shillelagh specifically increases the damage of a weapon, whereas Magic Daggers deals damage directly.

      2. Any class. The feature is functionally similar to the Book of Ancient Secrets Warlock invocation, except that you do not learn any ritual spells automatically.

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    2. Oh dear! I might have to tuck the current version away for future reference, as me and my players love us some SCAG cantrips. Thank you for your clear and timely answers.

      Delete
    3. Fear not, they will still be compatible and available to even 1st level Warmages. The most significant change I can mention ATM is a reworking of the Magic Daggers feature into its own spell, since Magic Stone is an EE cantrip.

      Delete
  27. Off the bat I LOVE this class and everything on this blog in general, I plan on playing this class in an upcoming campaign and wanted to clarify a few things before I go in.

    1. Does Blasting Style effect the damage from Booming Blade and GFB?
    2. Does Warmage's Edge effect BB, GFB, and Charged Blade Shillelagh?

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    Replies
    1. 1. Yes to both.
      2. Yes to BB and GFB, no to Shillelagh (regardless of charged blade): The spells BB and GFB both deal damage directly, while Shillelagh only modifies the damage of an existing weapon.

      Delete
    2. One more question, warmage edge states when you deal damage with a warmage spell, what counts as a warmage spell? ANY spell you learn as part of the warmage class (the cantrips you learn off the wizard spell list, the savant cantrip)? Does it include any spells you get from your racial (high elves for example)

      Delete
    3. Sorry ONE MORE one more question, under Rook Strike it states the attack must use a finesse weapon, ranged weapon, or warmage cantrip. Does the warmage cantrip component include Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade when not wielding a finesse weapon?

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    4. 1. Spells you learn by taking levels in the warmage class.

      2.Hmm...that would only make sense. It certainly gets around the restriction of weapon type.

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    5. Ok ONE more, for Elemental Crafting (the Warmage Trick) are the items you craft equipped to you? i.e. if I conjure up armor is it equipped to me or sitting on the floor? For arguments sake lets say I'm using Gust (so the resource is all around me already)

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  28. What program did you use to create the pdf form of the class description? It's very well done, and I have a couple classes that I have made for my homebrew campaign which I would like to do up like that.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. People never believe me, but it's Microsoft Word

      Delete
    2. I don't blame them not believing you... that's amazing. I've used Microsoft Word for centuries and I've never found features that would let me create documents like this. You wouldn't, by chance, have a couple suggestions about making those charts and getting the artwork stylistically cropped? Maybe a handy guide somewhere?

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    3. No helpful guides exist, as far as I know. I use a lot of GIMP (free photoshop) to make assets, like the background, then import them into word doc files which I use as templates for the future. Once you get something like spacing right once, you don't have to do it again. Tables are always a pain in the ass, though.

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    4. I will have to look into learning GIMP and fully exploring the features of Word. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. Thank you so much!

      Delete
  29. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. You did an awesome job with this class and I'll have a ton of fun playing one of these guys. :)
      I was looking to build a character around the Magic Daggers trick, as I love the flavor of the ability, but when you compare it to taking the Select Fire Trick, it seems a bit underpowered. Looking at levels 5+ (as Select Fire is useless before that point), let's compare Magic Daggers to the most damaging attack spell that has a similar range: Firebolt.

      Assume the Warmage has a +4 Intelligence modifier and that in the 'Multiple Targets' situation, there are the maximum number of targets available between which he can 'split' his spell.
      Current version:
      Single Target
      MD: L5, 15; L11, 22; L16, 30
      Fb: L5, 15; L11, 20; L16, 26

      Multiple Targets
      MD: L5, 15; L11, 22; L16, 30
      Fb: L5, 19; L11, 28; L16, 38

      In single-target damage, MD slowly creeps ahead in damage at the later levels (though, one should note that no Warmage Tricks are needed to achieve this result for Fb's performance, whereas a Trick needs to be taken just to use MD). However, when the Warmage starts using Selected Fire, the damage difference is pretty substantial from the get go and only continues to widen in favor of Firebolt.

      The suggestion I propose is decreasing MD's base damage to 1d4, but increase the number of daggers thrown to: 3 at Lvl5, 4 at Lvl11, and 5 at Lvl16. In this case:
      Single Target
      MD: L5, 19; L11, 26; L16, 32
      Fb: L5, 15; L11, 20; L16, 26

      Multiple Targets
      MD: L5, 19; L11, 26; L16, 32
      Fb: L5, 19; L11, 28; L16, 38

      Now, MD has higher damage output against single targets (though it's equal to or less than what we see in the Multiple Targets case of the current version). But, in the new Multiple Targets case, the damage differences are a good deal smaller.


      I understand that at the higher levels, Selected Fire is a little more situational because one needs the maximal number of targets to achieve these damage results. On the other hand, Selected Fire is a Trick that can be applied to a wide variety of Warmage cantrips, giving it much more versatility in terms of affecting opponents with spells and applying the effects of other Warmage Tricks. Magic Daggers, however, can only do one thing: summon daggers, etc. to attack with.

      For these reasons, Magic Daggers, as it is in its current form, seems far less preferable when one could take Selected Fire instead.

      Thoughts?

      Delete
    2. This is actually by design, and the there are still even a couple ways where you can squeeze a lot more utility out of both of these abilities.

      Magic daggers is absolutely supposed to trump in terms of single target damage. By virtue of adding Int bonus to each dagger instead of Warmage Edge to the whole attack, your minimum damage increases by a ton, and your average damage can go much higher. As well, and Int boost will give you a lot more than it will for someone who focuses on Magic Daggers.

      That being said, Magic Daggers isn't supposed to compete in the same realm as Fire Bolt. It has specific differences that make it preferable to Fire Bolt in certain circumstances (opportunity attacks, it deals magic B/S/P damage instead of Fire damage, higher single target), but a Bishop with the Blaster style is going to want to use that 5d12+5 damage as much as possible, not the 4d8+20.

      Delete
  30. So if you use Charged Blade on a longsword and cast Booming blade, would the 1d4 force damage trigger Blasting Cantrip?

    ReplyDelete
  31. No the Cantrip is not causing the damage. Your sword is causing the damage. When using Charge Blade you are in a sense creating a magic weapon that deal extra force damage. This is an independent damage source not connected to the Cantrip.

    ReplyDelete
  32. So as a Warmage you want high int for the spells. and either High str or dex for your weapon as well as con.

    Your quick build should include that not every subclass wants con as the second highest if there's not something I'm missing here?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Eh, I think I disagree that Constitution should come third. After all, a prerequisite to having the stats to swing a sword is having the HP to get in close to use it. Even though a knight might find Strength more important than other warmages, I don't think that means it should have a higher Strength than Constitution.

      Delete
    2. This is correct. Essentially, I would expect that pretty much every subclass would want Con as their second score (with the exception of Rooks, who might want dex) since even knights have a way to use their spellcasting modifier as their attack modifier (Via shillelagh and the Charged Blade trick).

      Delete
    3. Charged blade needs materials how is one gonna get those ?

      Also the cantrips you get by leveling up must be from wizard or can they be from the list under Warmage cantrips?

      Delete
    4. Christoffer Lee
      It'd make sense to use the Warmage Cantrips list as the base, and ask your DM if you could get Wizard cantrips to choose from as well.

      Then again, I'm working off the Complete Warmage PDF, which is nice and extensive.

      Delete
  33. I have a few things I want to say, some are questions some are not.
    1. Does the 1d4 from Shillelagh get the Warmage Edge added to it since it is damage caused by the cantrip

    2. Same as the previous, but in regards to Booming Blade and GreenFlame Blade past level 5.(They add 1d8+ as you know)

    3. Would it make sense to add an arcane focus to the Warmages starting gear, since some of the core cantrips may require materials.

    4. What would you consider a viable use for magic daggers, I've been trying to figure out the best situations to use them, but in the end spells like Ray of Frost and Fire Bolt out damage and out effect them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not part of MFoV but I maybe able to help.

      1. The 1d4 force is treated as weapon damage not cantrip damage. The shillelagh spell alters the weapons damage, it is not cantrip damage.

      2. You add your warmage edge to the thunder/fire damage of the cantrips. Remember warmage edge only applies to one creature once. For booming blade you must choose to apply the warmage edge to the thunder damage when you hit or when the creature moves. For greenflame blade your warmage edge is extra modifier damage.

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    2. Answers incoming!

      1. No One is correct, Warmage Edge damage does not apply to the bonus damage applied from Shillelagh.

      2. Yes, you add Warmage Edge damage to the damage cause by the Booming Blade and Greenflame Blade spells.

      3. It most certainly would. Change incoming.

      4. Magic daggers is intended to be a constant single target damage spell. The important point is that you add your Int bonus to each hit from a dagger, not to each target, so where your Fire Bolt may deal 4d10+5 (avg 27), your magic daggers will deal 4d6+20 (avg 34), though you must succeed on more attack rolls.

      Delete
    3. cool, thanks for the answers. One thing confuses me though, why have tricks that you can only learn after level 10, when we get tricks at 9 and 13? It just seems odd.

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    4. you can swap out tricks every time you level up.

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    5. oh, it said when you learn new tricks

      Delete
    6. Hmm...that is a typo, then. It shall be changed, post haste.

      Delete
  34. This class is a mess, you've stitched together the Combat features of fighters and warlocks, with a dash of rogues and sorcerers. This role is already filled by Eldritch Knight, Blade lock, Bladesinger, and multiclassing. You've also managed to step on Arcane Trickster with the Rook.

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    1. That's an interesting opinion. Would you say that the paladin is equally slapdash, because it combines the features of clerics and fighters, to fill the same combat role as the bladelock, eldritch knight, and valor bard?

      Delete
    2. To be fair, I agree to some extent. As such, the revision to this class has been edited quite a bit to give this a much more unique feel. It is a class that focuses almost entirely around Cantrip useage, to a much greater extent than the warlock.

      Of course, while I understand that, stating that it is a "mess" that borrows concepts from other classes doesn't really make a sufficient comment on weather or not it works as a whole. As in any case with the content I create, I encourage you to playtest it yourself, try to break it, and then let us know what doesn't work mechanically.

      Delete
  35. Hey there! I decided to revisit this class today, to see if any changes had been made, and I noticed a few discrepancies between what's said in the HTML and what's said in the PDF:
    - Arcane Surge: the PDF states that it's only for Cantrips, while the HTML says it's for all spells
    - Arcane Power: same as Surge, PDF says it's only for cantrips, while HTML says all spells
    -not technically in the HTML, but Palm stated that one can change their Tricks at every level-up, but the PDF says you can only exchange a Trick when you learn a new Trick
    - Electrifying Cantrip: HTML says "restrained", while PDF says "unable to take bonus actions and reactions"

    Personally, I think we should rule with the HTML on the first three, but the PDF on the fourth. Bishops get Proper Spells as their main class feature, so their other features should work off it. Also, Tricks only being available for switching at the level you get new tricks make all the ones with Level 10 as a prereq. pretty unnecessary to have said prereq.
    However, Restrained is FAR more powerful than the conditions imposed by the other Cantrip abilities, so I feel the PDF has it right, there.
    Love the class! I want to play one next time I'm on the Player side of the DM Screen, rather than behind it :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In most cases, rule with the PDF.

      - Arcane Surge and Arcane Power Should work with all Warmage spells, not merely warmage cantrips.
      - You should be able to change tricks at level up.
      - Electrifying cantrip is pr the PDF.

      It is unlikely that this version of the Warmage will be updated further (aside from the aforementioned edits) since the Complete version of the class is being written and playtested currently.

      Delete
  36. So I've been playing a warmage for a while now, and I have one question about the class. Master Warmage, the ability, I never feel like I'm using it very well. I focus on close combat since I'm School of the Knight, and I feel I am having trouble using as well as I can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whew, you're going all out with the testing! As a knight, probably the best use of your Master Warmage ability is doublecasting booming blade or Green-flame blade.

      Delete
  37. For Flexible Range, when you say the spell is a melee spell roll, is that as per a touch spell(so it would count for familiars), or is it through a weapon as per booming blade, or is it like the warcaster feat and you still have it's original range and you just are able to cast without the disadvantage?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does not change the range to "touch", it replaces the required ranged spell attack with a melee spell attack, and vice versa. Booming blade and Green-flame blade are not viable options in this case, but Shocking grasp is.

      Your interpretation is mostly correct: Spells requiring a ranged touch attack can be cast in melee without penalty, and spells requiring a melee spell attack can target creatures at 120 ft. range.

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    2. For cantrips that do not have attack rolls, but only Saves (such as Poison Spray), does this still apply?

      Delete
  38. Does Knights Flurry and Knights Swing work together? It says when you take the attack actionnon your turn. Does that mean that you can't benefit from Knights Swing if you use your bonus action to attack? Cantrip (action) + attack action (bonus action, 1 or 2 attacks)???
    Thanks in advance

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can only use one or the other, because Knight's Flurry can activate when you use your action to cast a cantrip, while Knight's Swing can activate when you take the Attack action.

      Delete
    2. So in effect it is better to take knights flurry at level 5 and switch it out at level 7 for some other trick as it becomes a wasted space.

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    3. Well, the Flurry is a subclass feature, so you can't trade it out. If you mean to trade out Knight's Swing, that's your call. Having an extra attack might deal comparable damage to a cantrip (and probably deal it more reliably), especially if you're using Charged Blade, Unerring Strike, and a magic weapon. It's all about how you build your warmage.

      Delete
    4. This right here. In the game I played a Knight in, I ended up with a Flametongue. In that instance, and at that level (level 10), it was much more effective to swing twice for 2d8+2d4+4d6+10 each turn instead of the 1d8+1d4+1d8+5 from booming blade

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  39. Did you forget about the extra swing you get for the knight ability? Cause you swing as a bonus action.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. ...hmm. yeah, that's true, and yeah, I did forget about that. Booming Blade and Greenflame blade combined with Knights flurry really makes Knight's Swing redundant.

      Delete
  40. For Elemental Crafting, you can make armor and weapons. Does that mean you can use different weapons, shields and heavier armor? Or just what your subclass is proficient with?

    ReplyDelete
  41. When you use the Select Fire trick, does each target get Int damage from Warmages Edge or just one?

    ReplyDelete
  42. Does Flexible Range allow me to cast cantrips with melee/touch range at a distance instead?

    ReplyDelete
  43. I'm so sorry! Last question I promise. Does Warmage Edge deal the Int damage to each target of say a Magic missile attack? But doesn't stack on one person correct? (I'm about to play a Warmage tomorrow in a friend's campaign and just want o make sure everything will go okay.)

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    1. Alright, i'll handle each one in order:

      @elemental crafting: You can make anything, but you still have to follow proficiency rules. Yes, you can make full-plate out of fire; No you don't become proficient in it if you weren't beforehand.

      @Select Fire: yes, each target would get the warmage edge damage. Note that this doesn't allow you to get multiple instances of warmage edge on a single target, since that's not how select fire works.

      @Flexible Range: Yes, that is the intent. Note that this wouldn't allow you to cast Booming Blade or Greenflame blade at range, because you still need to make a melee weapon attack to use the cantrip.

      @Warmage Edge: This is correct. Think of Warmage edge exactly as the Evoker Wizard's ability, becuase it essentially IS the evoker Wizard's ability.

      If you are considering playing a warmage, I would Highly suggest getting in on our patreon soon. either this month or next (most likely next) the warmage is gonna me getting a massive re-write and rebalance to make it a much more cohesive class.

      Delete
    2. I'm already a Patreon member. Can't wait to wait to see what you do. I thought this was pretty balanced enough tho. What changes were you thinking of making to what features exactly? Like new subclasses? Or just a burn and regrow kinda revamp?

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    3. Little from column A, Little From Column B.

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  44. I've a question about the Charged Blade ability, it's seeing use in a game I'm DMing and a disagreement over it's effect has arisen. As it's written it says you can use Shillelagh on any weapon, and the Shillelagh cantrip says it sets the damage dice of whatever weapon it affects to a d8, even if it were already higher than that (which in core isn't possible but this is homebrew territory). However, if the weapon already is a d8 or would be downgraded to one Charged Blade then adds a d4 to compensate. this is my reading, however I've a player who reads it as, if the weapon is already a d8 or higher then instead of changing it to a d8 you simply add the d4 onto it as a bonus and keep it's damage dice the way they are. Who is correct? Is the d4 there to compensate for shillelagh reducing the damage dice of more powerful weapons or are those weapons unchanged if they're already more powerful than a d8, and the d4 is merely bonus damage since Shillelagh isn't providing a benefit to the weapons damage dice? Also, if it's the former, then isn't there a problem with all weapons with a damage dice of d8, d10, d12, and 2d6 now being changed to the exact same d8+d4 damage output? Meaning there's little reason to ever choose a Greatsword over a Longsword. And if it's the latter, then perhaps a clarification would be useful, to tell people not to downgrade the damage dice of more powerful weapons and to point out that the d4 is purely a bonus on top of the weapons original damage dice.

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    1. This is a strange bit of semantics, one that will get edited. I was slightly mistaken in my understanding of Shillelagh's effects: the spell deos indeed CHANGE the weapons damage die to a d8, not INCREASE the weapon's damage die. Granted, this is always an increase, because normally it can only target clubs or quarterstaves.

      The intent is that, if you target a greatsword with this ability, you increase it's damage by 1d4, not reduce it's damage die to 1d8. I'm looking at this, though, and I may change it later on.

      Delete
    2. Thank you for the quick reply, my player will be pleased to hear he's not loosing any damage.

      Delete
  45. When using Magic Daggers, does Arcane Surge apply to each dagger, making them deal 2d6 damage each, or only once so that only one dagger deals 2d6 damage?

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I just reread the ability and your explanation for Magic Missile above.

      Delete
  46. Oh, I'm not sure if anyone has pointed this out yet, but on the table for the Bishop Warmage's spell slots, it changes from 4 at 11th level to 3 at 12th, 13th, and 14th level, and then back to 4 at 15th level. I'm assuming that's a bit of an error.

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    1. Yeah, this should be the same as other 1/3 casters. Can't believe that type of error happened. Fixed now.

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  47. This would be an excellent basis for a proper Bladesinger- not that Wizard Tradition they put out in Sword Coast Adventures, but a proper one. You also seem to have thought about it briefly- I see that musical instrument proficiency.

    ReplyDelete
  48. I have to ask, actually: Why doesn't the house of kings have a 18th level feature?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Much like the Battlemaster that it's based off of, Its arcane Mastery dice become d12's at 18th level.

      Delete
  49. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  50. Some questions regarding the Elemental Crafting ability:

    What exactly qualifies as a "basic construct"? Is it just an object with no moving parts?

    Can the material found in the 5x5x5 foot cube be used to potentially create an object that expands to longer than 5 feet in a direction such as a ladder, rope/grappling hook combo, or a sort of temporary dirt-tarp?

    Lastly, When crafting something using Gust, does the object take on a lightning look(as in emitting some light)? Or does it simply look like swirling air?

    Thanks in advance for any answers you guys can provide to these questions.

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    1. My intent was to leave that to the discretion of the DM, but for clarity i'll say yes, objects without a plethora of moving parts.

      Though I never specified a volumetric limit, I see no issues with allowing you to use the ability to create any item that doesn't feature a lot of complex parts (like a clock), isn't too large (like a wagon), or features some other sort of chemical compound (like a oil lamp).

      I'd highly suggest you shift over to using the Complete warmage, though, as i'm not really doing support for this build of the class anymore.

      Delete
    2. Thanks so much for getting back to me, and for answering my questions. I'll definitely look into being a patreon and check out the complete class! Once again I appreciate you taking the time to get back to me on this.

      Delete
  51. Does Warmage Edge work with elemental crafting? Ex. Use control Flame to create a fire sword and add my Str & Int Modifier to the damage.

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  52. I love this class. It's different in what it focuses on, and it works to the class lay out that feels like a signature of MFoV. I do have a request for perhaps inclusions in your complete books, or another articles - example PCs. Put together some example PCs that match the archetypes that you you were thinking when you write your classes, and maybe some examples of ones that dont fit the norm.

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  53. Dear Middle Finger of Vecna Crew,
    I was hoping to obtain some rules clarifications concerning the base class "Warmage" that is on your website. I was reading through the comments section because I had some questions, but I just wanted to be sure I understood correctly:

    1) Does the "Blaster" arcane fighting style increase the force damage of "Charged Blade" to a d6?

    2) Does "Warmage Edge" add your intelligence modifier to the force damage of "Charged Blade"? (it doesn't, right? that would be crazy.)

    3) Does "Warmage Edge" and your intelligence modifier to the damage dealt to both the primary and secondary targets of "Green-Flame Blade"? Does this change when you start adding fire damage to the initial strike at 5th level? Does "Blaster" increase the fire damage from d8s to d10s?

    4) Does "Warmage Edge" add your intelligence modifier to both the damage dealt initially by "Booming Blade" and to the thunder damage dealt when the creature moves? Does this change when you start adding thunder damage to the initial strike at 5th level? Does "Blaster" increase the fire damage from d8s to d10s?

    5) Does simultaneous use of "Charged Blade" and "Warmage Edge" mean that your intelligence modifier is added to the damage of an attack multiple times in different ways when "Green-Flame Blade" or "Booming Blade" are used?

    Pax Christi

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    1. Hey! sorry to get back to this so late.

      1) No. Charged blade, the spell, does not deal damage, the weapon you cast it on deals damage.

      2) No, for the same reason as above.

      3) Sort of. Prior to 5th level, the primary target takes no direct damage from the spell, only the secondary target, so the secondary target would take increased damage from warmage edge. After 5th level, when the primary target starts taking fire damage from the spell, it also takes increased damage from warmage edge. yes, Blaster would increase those d8s to d10s.

      4) Yes to all, for the same reasons as above.

      5) Yes, it would. While that seems sort of insane, it is actually somewhat sub-optimal to do so (depending on the situation):

      For GFB, at 17th level, the initial target takes 1d8+3d10+10 damage, secondary target takes 3d10+10 damage. By contrast, you could be doing single target 4d10+20 damage with Mystical Blade (a cantrip from Complete Warmage).

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  54. That ray of frost war mage trick seems to ve a bit too powerful for my taste. Reducing an enemy's movement to 0 at will, despite requiring a saving throw, while also dealing damage, is going a bit too far.

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    1. In testing, it's only marginally stronger than a grappler doing the same thing.

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  55. Does Arcane Mastery let you cast the spell at will, or normaly?

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  56. Are any of the spells from xanathars usable by warmages?

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  57. Does Force Buckler stacks with the Shield spell?

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