Class: Spellblade

The Spellblade
						Magic				Maneuvers
Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Mana	Max Spell Grade	Paths	Spells Known	Max Maneuver Grade	Schools	Maneuvers Known
1	+0	+1	+1	+1	Spellstrike	2	Initiate	1	2	Basic	1	2
2	+1	+2	+2	+2	Blade Arcana	4	Initiate	1	3	Basic	1	3
3	+2	+2	+2	+2		6	Initiate	1	4	Basic	1	4
4	+3	+2	+2	+2	Blade Arcana	8	Initiate	1	5	Basic	1	5
5	+3	+3	+3	+3		9	Apprentice	2	6	Lesser	1	6
6	+4	+3	+3	+3	Blade Arcana	11	Apprentice	2	6	Lesser	1	6
7	+5	+4	+4	+4		13	Apprentice	2	7	Lesser	1	7
8	+6/+1	+4	+4	+4	Blade Arcana	15	Apprentice	2	8	Lesser	1	8
9	+6/+1	+4	+4	+4		16	Apprentice	2	9	Lesser	2	9
10	+7/+2	+5	+5	+5	Spellblade Talent	18	Apprentice	2	10	Lesser	2	10
11	+8/+3	+5	+5	+5		20	Apprentice	3	11	Lesser	2	11
12	+9/+4	+6	+6	+6	Spellblade Talent	22	Journeyman	3	11	Expert	2	11
13	+9/+4	+6	+6	+6		23	Journeyman	3	12	Expert	2	12
14	+10/+5	+6	+6	+6	Spellblade Talent	25	Journeyman	3	13	Expert	2	13
15	+11/+6/+1	+7	+7	+7		27	Journeyman	3	14	Expert	2	14
16	+12/+7/+2	+7	+7	+7	Spellblade Talent	29	Journeyman	3	15	Expert	2	15
17	+12/+7/+2	+8	+8	+8		30	Journeyman	4	16	Expert	2	16
18	+13/+8/+3	+8	+8	+8	Spellblade Talent	32	Journeyman	4	16	Expert	2	16
19	+14/+9/+4	+8	+8	+8		34	Adept	4	17	Greater	2	17
20	+15/+10/+5	+9	+9	+9	Spellblade Talent	36	Adept	4	18	Greater	2	18

 

Spellblade

Ariel, iconic spellblade

"Through fusion of the arts of magic and war, a greater power is found."

Study of the way of the sword and the art of magic in tandem makes for a powerful combination, but it requires a keener eye to discern a path of power that joins them into a seamless whole, stronger than the sum of its parts. Those who follow this path become spellblades, and while those who focus on one path or another may attain the greatest secrets of their trades, the spellblade attains powers unique to her chosen path, fusing two arts into one.

In Trinity, spellblades have a long but troubled tradition. The art was originally founded by Kalrios Dilark, who sought a way to combine martial might with magical skill, in the face of the looming threat of Kotrit Wayveri. When Kalrios fled to Chaliraz, he left behind an academy of individuals versed in this new art; while he spread the ideas in new lands, they continued his teachings, expanding upon them in ways he had not foreseen. While those races more magically-inclined see the discipline as somewhat vulgar, they cannot doubt its battle-tested strengths.

Spellblades come from a variety of backgrounds, and the art of magic can be applied to almost any of the arts martial. However, their primary focus and purpose is on a manufactured weapon; as such, they cannot learn the art of falconry or use their bodies as weapons. In addition, the spellblade tradition requires solid mental concentration, which precludes those who left fury or madness drive them in the heat of battle.

Today, spellblades can be found throughout the worlds of Trinity, plying their trade as adventurers or swords-for-hire. Their ability to fuse magic and swordsmanship gives them a level of versatility, and while they are uncommon as "core" members of adventuring bands, many are glad to have them for their ability to function both as a front-line combatant and spellcaster.

Game Rule Information

Jedi have the following game statistics.

Force Alignment: Magic.

Force Resistances: PR 5 + level, TR 5 + level.

Abilities: To wield their magic, spellblades must have a reasonably high Intelligence; to practice their arts martial, the spellblade must excel in at least one physical ability score, depending upon their selection of tradition.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Con score.

Hit Points at Each Additional Level: 7 + Con modifier.

Healing Surges: 8 + Con modifier.

Starting Age: Simple.

Class Features

Spellblade: Combat Styles
Class	Availability
Archer
Berserker
Defender
Einhander
Falconer
Karateka
Lancer
Unfettered
Warlord

All of the following are class features of the spellblade.

Weapons and Armor Proficiency: Spellblades are proficient with all simple weapons, martial melee weapons, light armor, and bucklers. A spellblade's choice of combat style may grant her additional weapon or armor proficiencies; see below.

A spellblade can cast spells from her spellblade spell list while wearing light armor and/or using a buckler without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance.

Combat Style: At first level, the spellblade decides which combat style she will pursue. Consult the table on the right to find the styles available to a spellblade.

• Archer: A spellblade's max aim tokens equals one-half her spellblade level + 3 (rounded down), and gains bonus aim tokens based on her Intelligence. A spellblade who selects this style gains proficiency with martial ranged weapons.
• Defender: A spellblade's max armor tokens equals one-half her spellblade level + 1 (rounded down), and gains bonus armor tokens based on her Intelligence. A spellblade who selects this style gains proficiency with medium armor and shields, and she does not incur the normal arcane spell failure chance for spellblade spells while wearing medium armor or wearing a shield, except a tower shield.
• Einhander: A spellblade can have a number of maneuvers readied equal to the amount on the class table, above. You can spend MP to recover an expended maneuver as a swift action; doing so requires an amount of MP equal to the maneuver's level.
• Lancer: A spellblade can have a number of maneuvers readied equal to the amount on the class table, above. You can spend MP to recover an expended maneuver as a swift action; doing so requires an amount of MP equal to the maneuver's level.
• Unfettered: Any spellblade can select this style. We don't know anything about unfettered yet, so ignore this for now.
• Warlord: A spellblade can have a number of maneuvers readied equal to the amount on the class table, above. You can spend MP to recover an expended maneuver as a swift action; doing so requires an amount of MP equal to the maneuver's level. A spellblade's Command Bonus is equal to what it would be for a warlord of the same class level.

Feats

The following are a selection of feats that are relevant to mages.

 

MAGIC ADEPT CROSSTRAINING [Magic, Martial]
You study both of your chosen fields in tandem.
Prerequisites: Caster, Initiator.
Benefit: You gain knowledge of one additional spell of any grade you can access, of any path you can access; and one additional maneuver of any grade you can access, of any school you can access. You can take this feat multiple times; its effect stacks.

 

Design Notes

Seems in-line with other adepts thus far... one thing I've noted: we need to do something about BAB for adept classes. Specifically, they should be able to mimic the BAB of their parent martial class if its better (use AAB if you go archery, get a full BAB if you go einhander, etc), and each martial class should probably grant something to the adepts, to make them feel properly like the parent class a little more.

MP progression for spellblades is based upon current (Aug 27, 2015) assumptions for MP pools for mages. If that changes, spellblade needs to change to match (along with all the other magic classes).

Feb 7, 2017: Lo and behold, the MP progression for mages got changed. Spellblade has been modified. In addition, the class progression has been cleaned up significantly. Maneuver progression for spellblade will now be the standard for all adept classes' martial progressions, and the general trend of their magic progression will be used to model the other eight adept classes.

The table has some weird spots (at 12th, you gain access to a higher grade, but no new spells/maneuvers known); there's no real way to fix this, as I've already minimized dead levels as much as seems feasible at the moment. For now, just note that you can spend talents on feats (and thereby gain extra spells/maneuvers known), and that there will probably be an adept-centric feat that allows you to learn one "spell" and one maneuver at the same time.