"In the mists of time, before Atlantis rose . . .
Gath of Baal was imprisoned by the Horned Helmet and transformed into the Death
Dealer, a creature of supernatural skill in battle – against whom nothing could
stand."
Prisoner of the
Horned Helmet, 1988, Frank Frazetta, James R. Silke
Designer’s Forward: A version of this class previously
appeared as the Deathdealer, in response to an impromptu contest
on the Autarch forums. I wanted a less specific, more flexible version of that
class, and the Magus is the result.
Prime Requisite: CON, INT
Requirements: None
Hit Dice: 1d4
Maximum Level: 14
Long have humans sought to follow in the path of the
elven spellsword, combining arcane and fighting expertise into a unified whole.
None have succeeded as broadly as the elves, but human magi have succeeded in
their own focused way, as arcane archers, dark knights, deathdealers, eldritch knights,
fiendblades and psychic warriors.
At first level, magi hit an unarmored foe (AC 0) with an
attack throw of 10+. Like fighters, they advance in attack throws by two points
every three levels of experience. However, like mages, they advance in saving
throws by two points every six levels of experience. Magi are limited to fighting with the weapons taught by their school.
All magi are trained by a school of spell and weapon craft. Judges are
encouraged to create schools specific to their campaign setting. Otherwise,
when a magus is created, select a school for the character from the Magus Schools
table below. Write down the allowed weapons and special abilities of the school.
Each school teaches the use of a selection of weapons, one or more special
abilities at 1st level or later, and four proficiency selections which are
added to the Magus Proficiency List as potential class proficiency choices. A
magus may only wear chain mail or lighter armor. They may fight wielding a
weapon and shield, wielding a two-handed weapon, or wielding a weapon in each
hand. Magi increase their base damage roll from their choice of either melee or
missile attacks by +1 at 1st level and by an additional +1 at 3rd, 6th, 9th,
and 12th level. The magus must choose which type of attack will receive the
damage bonus at 1st level, and may not change the choice as he advances.
Magus Schools
School
|
Weapons
|
Special
Abilities
|
Proficiency
List
|
Arcane
Archer
|
all missile
weapons and any one-handed melee weapons
|
4th level: sharpness once per 8 hours; each use
takes 1 round, 10th level: spell
storing as a ruinguard, except a spell may be cast into a missile
|
Elven
Bloodline, Mystic Aura, Passing Without Trace, Precise Shooting
|
Dark Knight
|
battle axe,
dagger, flail, great axe, mace, morning star, short sword, sword, two-handed
sword, whip
|
4th level: bestow curse once per day; each use
takes 1 round, 10th level: bane
once per 8 hours; each use takes 1 round
|
Ambushing, Combat
Trickery (incapacitate), Familiar, Quiet Magic
|
Deathdealer
|
axes,
daggers and swords
|
4th level: chimerical force, once per day; each
use takes 1 round, 10th level: death
healing as a ruinguard
|
Black Lore,
Elementalism, Illusion Resistance, Mystic Aura
|
Eldritch
Knight
|
battle axe,
flail, lance, mace, morning star, pole arm, spear, sword, two-handed sword,
war hammer
|
4th level: the
character may select any one class proficiency, 10th level: the character may
select any one class proficiency
|
Combat Trickery
(disarm), Elementalism, Familiar,
Loremastery
|
Fiendblade
|
axes,
daggers and swords
|
7th level: all
creatures summoned by the character gain +1 hp per Hit Die, 9th level: the
character may select any one class proficiency, 13th level: summon infernal powers as a warlock
|
Berserkergang,
Familiar, Kin-Slaying, Soothsaying
|
Psychic
Warrior
|
dagger,
dart, flail, hand axe, longbow, mace, pole arm, spear, staff, sword
|
4th level: swift sword once per 8 hours; each
use takes 1 round, 10th level: fly
once per day; each use takes 1 round
|
Combat Trickery (wrestle), Martial Training, Prophecy, Unarmed Fighting
|
Magi rely upon their arcane
defense. At 1st level, the character gains a +2 bonus to AC and decreases
the damage from any non-magical attacks by 1 point per die. At 7th level, this
protection increases to +4 AC and 2 points per die. At 13th level, the
protection increases to +6 AC and 3 points per die. The damage reduction is
applied per die. Damage can be reduced to 0, but not less than 0, on each die.
The AC bonus from arcane defense
stacks with potions of invulnerability, rings of protection, and similar
effects, but does not stack with armor. Attacks from monsters of 5 HD or more
are considered magical attacks due to the monster’s ferocity.
A magus's arcane
focus provides a +1 bonus to attack throws, proficiency throws, saving
throws, and initiative rolls for 1 turn (10 minutes), once per day per level of
experience. The magus may focus without expending an action.
Magi may use any magic item usable by fighters or mages. Beginning
at 6th level, magi may cast arcane spells as an arcane caster of 5 levels
lower. Starting at 10th level, magi may begin to research spells, scribe
scrolls, and brew potions. When a magus reaches 14th level, he is able to
create more powerful magic items such as weapons, rings, and staffs.
When a magus reaches 5th level, his battlefield prowess inspires those who follow him. Any henchmen and
mercenaries hired by the magus gain a +1 bonus to their morale score whenever
he personally leads them. This bonus stacks with any modifiers from the magus’s
Charisma or proficiencies.
When a magus reaches 9th level, he can attract men from
far and wide by constructing his own arcane
academy. When the magus establishes his academy, 1d4+1x10 0th level
mercenaries and 1d6 magi of 1st-3rd level will serve him. If hired, they must
be paid standard rates for mercenaries. Magi’ academies are otherwise identical
to fighters’ castles, as detailed in the Campaign chapter of the ACKS Rulebook.
Magus Proficiency List (24 + 4 = 28): Acrobatics, Alertness,
Battle Magic, Blind Fighting, Combat
Reflexes, Combat Trickery (force back, knock down, overrun, sunder), Command,
Dungeon Bashing, Endurance, Fighting Style, Gambling, Intimidation,
Manual of Arms, Military Strategy, Riding, Running, Skirmishing, Swashbuckling,
Unflappable Casting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon
Focus
Experience
|
Level
|
Title
|
Hit Dice
|
Damage Bonus
|
Special Abilities
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
|
1d4
|
+1
|
Arcane defense, arcane focus
|
|
|
|
|
|
3,000
|
2
|
|
2d4
|
+1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6,000
|
3
|
|
3d4
|
+2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12,000
|
4
|
|
4d4
|
+2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
24,000
|
5
|
|
5d4
|
+2
|
Battlefield prowess
|
|
|
|
|
|
48,000
|
6
|
Magus
|
6d4
|
+3
|
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
95,000
|
7
|
Magus
|
7d4
|
+3
|
|
2
|
|
|
|
|
190,000
|
8
|
Magus
|
8d4
|
+3
|
|
2
|
1
|
|
|
|
340,000
|
9
|
Lord Magus
|
9d4
|
+4
|
Arcane academy
|
2
|
2
|
|
|
|
490,000
|
10
|
Lord Magus, 10th
lvl
|
9d4+1*
|
+4
|
Magic research (minor)
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
|
|
640,000
|
11
|
Lord Magus, 11th
lvl
|
9d4+2*
|
+4
|
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
|
|
790,000
|
12
|
Lord Magus, 12th
lvl
|
9d4+3*
|
+5
|
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
|
940,000
|
13
|
Lord Magus, 13th
lvl
|
9d4+4*
|
+5
|
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
|
1,090,000
|
14
|
Grand Magus, 14th
lvl
|
9d4+5*
|
+5
|
Magic research
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
*Hit point modifiers from constitution are ignored
Custom Class
Build Information
Hit Dice
|
Fighting
|
Thievery
|
Divine
|
Arcane
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Reduce armor
selection from Unrestricted to Broad for 1 custom power
Reduce weapon
selection from Unrestricted to Broad for 1 custom power
Reduce weapon
selection from Broad to Narrow for 2 custom powers
Eliminate
fighter damage bonus (melee or missile) for 1 custom power
Exchange
casting at 1/2 class level for Class level –5
XP
Calculation: 0 + 1000 + 750 + 1250 = 3000 at 2nd level
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