Spellsword (Pathfinder)

The Spellsword prestige class is mix of martial and magical prowess, focused on using spells to enhance melee attacks. First introduced in the Complete Warrior, this page updates this class for use with the Pathfinder system, and tries to correct some its flaws along the way. (Notes at the end of the page provide details of the goals of this conversion.)

Hit Die: d8

Requirements

• Base Attack Bonus: +4
• Proficiency: all simple and martial weapons
• Proficiency: all light, medium and heavy armor
• Feats: Arcane Armor Training
• Spells: Able to cast 2nd level arcane spells
• Special: Must have defeated a foe through force of arms alone, without any spell casting

Class Skills

The spellsword's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Str), Climb (Str), Craft (armor, weapons) (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Spells per day
1st	+1	+1	+0	+1	Channel spell (0th level), Arcane Armor Mastery	-
2nd	+2	+1	+1	+1	Channel spell (1st level)	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
3rd	+3	+2	+1	+2	Channel spell (2nd level), Reduce spell failure 5%	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
4th	+4	+2	+1	+2	Channel spell (3rd level), Bonus feat	-
5th	+5	+3	+2	+3	Additional channel, Reduce spell failure 10%	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
6th	+6	+3	+2	+3	Channel spell (4th level)	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
7th	+7	+4	+2	+4	Bonus feat, Reduce spell failure 15%	-
8th	+8	+4	+3	+4	Additional channel	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
9th	+9	+5	+3	+5	Channel spell (5th level), Reduce spell failure 20%	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
10th	+10	+5	+3	+5	Multiple channel spell	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Spellwords gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Arcane Armor Mastery: At 1st level, a spellsword gains Arcane Armor Mastery as a bonus feat if he does not already have it.

Channel Spell (Sp): At 1st level, a spell sword may channel any zero level level arcane spell he can cast into his melee weapon. This requires a move action but otherwise can be done as often as the spellsword has his own spells available to channel. Spells cast from scrolls or similar items cannot be channeled, nor can spell-like abilities. At the spellsword's option, the spell will affect the next target he successfully attacks with the weapon, a choice made prior to the attack's normal melee damage being resolved. Saving throws and spell resistance apply, but any to-hit rolls a spell requires are considered to have been made by the attack. Even if the spell normally affects an area, or is a ray, it affects only the target. Initially, spellswords may only channel into one weapon at a time, and the weapon can only hold one spell at a time (see, however, the additional channel ability, below). Spells channeled into a weapon are lost if not used in eight hours.

As spellsword levels are gained, more potent spells may be channeled, as indicated in the table. At 4th level, for example, the spellsword may channel third level arcane spells. Channeling any spell uses up the prepared spell or spell slot just as if the spell has been cast normally. When channeling, the spell is measured by the slot it occupies. If, for example, a metamagic effect requires a certain spell be cast using a 4th level slot, a spellsword could only channel that spell if they were allowed to channel 4th level spells, regardless of the spell's base level.

Channeling spells using 3rd level slots or higher will destroy non-magical weapons. Once the attack and spell are resolved, the weapon turns to dust. Channeling spells using 5th level slots will do the same to +1 weapons as well.

Reduce Spell Failure (Ex): At 3rd level, the spellsword's merging of spellcraft and weaponry allows him to reduce the chance of arcane spell failure associated with armor by an additional 5%. This chance is reduced by a further 5% for every two levels thereafter. This ability stacks with the bonus from Arcane Armor Mastery; however, unlike that feat, it does not require any kind of action to activate, but rather is an intrinsic effect.

Bonus Feat: At 4th level, a spellsword gains a bonus feat that must be either a metamagic feat, a bloodline feat, or one drawn from the list of fighter bonus feats. This is in addition to the feats that a character of any class normally gets from advancing levels. The character must still meet any prerequisites for these bonus feats. A spellsword gains an additional such feat at 7th level.

Additional Channel (Sp): At 5th level, the spellsword may prepare an additional channeled spell. This can either be a spell channeled into a second weapon, or a second spell channeled into the same weapon. In either case, only one spell may actually be released per successful attack. If the spellword hits with a weapon containing multiple channels, he may select which goes off for a particular attack. Another additional channel is gained at 8th level.

Multiple Channel Spell (Sp): A 10th-level spellsword can activate any of the channels in his weapon in a single attack. Thus, on a successful attack, all of the spells channeled into the weapon used in the attack effect the target. When the attack is resolved, the spellsword decides which, if any, of the channels affect the target, and in what order.

Spells per Day: At the indicated levels, a spell sword gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a spellsword, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

Design Notes

The original version of this class is considered to be fairly weak in the d20 system, giving up too much spellcasting ability to be considered useful for more than a few levels. As originally written, it also is somewhat weak when compared to Pathfinder's updated Eldritch Knight class, particularly considering the availability of Pathfinder's Arcane Armor Mastery feat.

Also, the original class tends to be viewed mostly as a way for arcane fighters to use armor, as the implementation of its core concept (channeling spells through weapons) was not that compelling. In particular, the daily limit for spell channeling seemed unnecessary, given that spell use itself already has a daily limit. All the channeling does is allow the spellsword to cast spells and melee attack in a single action. Essentially, it just provides a really versatile mechanism for buffing a weapon. So, it seemed more appropriate to allow the spell sword to channel as much as he likes, but use level progression to limit the effectiveness of the spells being channeled.

So, keeping all this in mind, this port of the Spellsword is based mostly on the Pathfinder revision of the Eldritch Knight, altered as follows:

• Smaller hit dice
• Slower spell progression
• Doesn't stack levels for feat qualification
• Better Will saves
• Channel Spell ability
• Fewer feats
• Better reduction arcane spell failure