Paizo has revealed its first playtest for the upcoming Ultimate Magic book expected next year. The new playtest unleashes a new base class, the Magus, an arcane spellcaster/fighter combination. Of course, the proof is in the play, but my first thought upon looking at it was that the Eldritch Knight prestige class has just been rendered obsolete. Heck, they even use a new version of the Eldritch Knight iconic art to illustrate the pdf (although I'm sure a new iconic will be commissioned for the final product).
-Rognar-
Update: Upon further perusal, the Spell Combat class feature of the Magus looks awesome, maybe too awesome. I wouldn't be surprised to see it nerfed in the final product. The ability to make a full attack and cast a spell in the same round, even with the penalties on both the attacks and the concentration check (which are reduced to zero at higher levels anyway) is a potential gamebreaker.
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6 comments:
While I have only skimmed it so far I am a bit disappointed. Not with how it might play but with the mechanics. I was expecting some new design ideas here and we get is a more martial bard like character.
Maybe the non-gish characters in the play test will have some new mechanics. What I'm looking for is something along the lines or the Truenamer, or Shadowcaster from 3.5 (except that they won't suck).
It's a tough job creating a whole new way of doing magic that doesn't break the game and doesn't suck. In Tome of Magic, WotC erred on the side of caution and gave us suck. I'd be a bit surprised if Paizo got really adventurous with Ultimate Magic. Their design philosophy with Pathfinder seems to be one of restraint. On the other hand, if they did decide to get a bit experimental, I have no doubt they could do a better job with it than WotC. The playtest approach they use really seems to generate good results.
I keep making trips to the Sentry Box. They never seem to have the new Pathfinder minis.
The art in the Advanced Edition Players Handbook is amazing.
I dont recall seeing the magus in there though.
Paladin - The magus is a new playtest for an upcoming release. Paizo releases pdfs for free download which fans can try out and send in feedback. At present, the magus class is very much in a "beta" form and only available from the Paizo website.
That explains it.
Paizo's approach would certainly endear them to their fans, smart move, involving them in beta tests.
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