Martial Arcanist

Martial Arcanists are arcane fighters, more adept in dexterous combat than up front and brutal melees. These particular Spell casters prefer to gain any advantages they can, and follow the combat up with quick decisive strikes, focusing down enemies in the order they find most threatening, usually other spell casters, followed by bruiser fighters, then anyone else who still opposes them after.  Dipping into the schools of Abjuration, Divination, Illusion and Transmutation, they rely on using the arcane arts to affect the outcome of their battles in much more subtle ways.

Making an Martial Arcanist

Martial Arcanists are a class that is best suited when other major roles are filled. They can take the place of a dedicated arcane caster, but without the evocation and conjuration spells, they may seem a bit more lacking. They have the skillset to be a dedicated skill monkey, but will hardly every receive as many skill points as a rogue. And they have the ability to stand toe to toe in some melee combats, but can't dish out or take as much damage as the mighty Champion or Warblade. A Martial Arcanist is best suited to let other dedicated members of a group perform his or her role, and to support them in whichever ways he can, whether that be performing a difficult skill check, aiding the other caster in buffing party members, or getting up close and personal with enemy mages, in a concentrated effort to take them down before they dish out too much hassle..

Abilities: Martial Arcanists rely heavily on Dexterity and Charisma. Their spells available to cast and spell DCs all rely on their charisma, and although strength can boost melee proficiency, dropping Dexterity could give a hit to skills that would take a turn for the worst. A nimble Martial Arcanist with a high Dexterity and weapon finesse is one of the scariest opponents imaginable.

Races: Any race can be well suited to be a Martial Arcanist, provided they have the willpower to seek out the lore required to becoming one. Humans and their adventurous tendencies are the most common, if not deadliest Martial Arcanist. The Elves' affinity for all things magic and nimble, dance-like fighting styles also make them a prime candidate. Dwarven martial proficiency may fit some Martial Arcanists, but their general dislike of arcane arts and fondness of more strength relied combat causes them to be few and far between.

Alignment: A Martial Arcanist can be of any alignment. Good Martial Arcanist relies on their prowess to take up positions as bodyguards to high nobility or accompany Champions of good on quests of valor. Neutral Martial Arcanist may travel the lands, seeking balance in all they find, whether it is in themselves or the areas surrounding them. Evil Martial Arcanists, more often than not become assassins, taking on contracts to kill those marked who would be otherwise unable to be reached by most normal hitmen. Lawful ones swear loyalty to a master and serve faithfully, and Chaotic roam the lands on their own seeking thrill and adventure.

Starting Gold: 5d4 x 10 (125gp).

Class Features

Martial Arcanists excel at dexterous combat, and schools of magic use to gain the upper hand in a fight. All of the following are class features of the Arcanist.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Martial Arcanists are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light and medium armors, and shields (although not tower shields). Alternatively, He or She may choose to be proficient with all simple weapons and select two exotic weapons instead.

Spells: Martial Arcanist gain the ability to cast spells as a Sorcerer would, derived from the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list, but on a more specified scale. To cast a spell, the Martial Arcanist must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the spell's level. Bonus spells are based on Charisma, and the saving throws have a DC of 10 + spell level + his/her Cha modifier. The Martial Arcanist may only select spells of the Abjuration, Divination, Illusion and Transmutation schools. She or He casts spells exactly as a Sorcerer would, and has the ability to replace spells a known spell for a new one at every even class level, starting at 3rd.

Dispelling Strike: Once per day, an Martial Arcanist can attempt to strike the magic out of his/her foe with a successful melee attack. The attack deals normal damage, and his/her victim is subject to a targeted greater dispel magic, as the spell. The Martial Arcanist dispel check is 1d20 + class level + 6. If the Martial Arcanist’s target has no spells or effects to be dispelled, the dispelling strike has no effect, but unfortunately, is used up for the day. The Martial Arcanist is able to use this ability once more per day at 5th level, and with an additional usage added every 5 levels after.
Combat Casting: Because of the martial proficiency in arcane combat, this allows Martial Arcanist  to have the ability to cast magic  better while locked in melee combat. She or He gains Combat Casting as a bonus feat.

Eschew Materials: The Martial Arcanist knows that choosing between wielding a spell and materials, and wielding a sword just is not practical. She or He gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat.
Ignore Spell Failure Chance: The Martial Arcanist blend of swordplay and arcane prowess result in his/her ability to begin casting more proficiently while wearing armor or using shields. At 4th level, the Martial Arcanist ignores 5% of spell failure chance from any armor or shield (s)he wears. This reduction increases to 10% at 8th level, and increases by 5% every 4 levels thereafter.
Extended Spell strength: At 6th level, the Martial Arcanist is able to better hold the duration of his self-targeted spells during combat. Any spell the Martial Arcanist that has his/herself as a target, the duration is doubled as if affected by the Extend Spell feat. The spell is still cast at its normal level, and any spell that affects multiple targets still affects each one, but only the Martial Arcanist is affected by the extended duration. Spells with no listed target are not affected by this ability. 

Tenacious Spells: As the Martial Arcanist grows in experience, she or he begins to learn how to better apply his/her spells to foes, and keep them in place for the duration of the spell. The DC to dispel the character's Martial Arcanist spells is increased by 6.
Mettle: Constant combat against enemy magi has increased the Martial Arcanist's resistance to magical attacks. At 13th level, if the Martial Arcanist succeeds on a Fortitude or Will save against a spell that would normally produce a lesser effect on a successful save, instead she or he ignores the effect. Mettle does not apply while unconscious or sleeping.
Perfect Mage Slayer: The Martial Arcanist has become a master at hunting and combating mages, whether using sword or his/her own spells. (S)He gains the benefits of the Mage Slayer feat, but does not suffer the -4 caster level penalty.

Epic Martial Arcanist

Ignore Spell Failure Chance/Dispelling Strike: These abilities continue to increase at the same by level progression as the base class. (Note: Jumping up to heavy armor at these levels with the increase spell failure chance reduction may sound like a blast, but remember; the Martial Arcanist is primarily a dexterous, quick and nimble fighter, relying more on darting about the battlefield and striking accurately, than wielding heavy plate armor and a massive shield. Leave that to the Clerics.)

Bonus Feats: The epic Martial Arcanist gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic Martial Arcanist bonus feats) every 3 levels after 20th All prerequisites must be met.

Epic Martial Arcanist Bonus Feat List: Any epic met magic feats, Augmented Alchemy, Blinding Speed, Any craft feats, Dexterous Fortitude, Dexterous Will, Dire Charge, Energy Resistance, Epic Dodge, Epic Fortitude, Epic Prowess, Epic Reflexes, Epic Reputation, Epic Skill Focus, Epic Speed, Epic Spell Focus, Epic Spell Penetration, Epic Spellcasting, Epic Weapon Focus, Epic Will, Extended Life Span, Familiar Spell, Fast Healing, Great Charisma, Great Constitution, Great Dexterity, Great Intelligence, Great Strength, Great Wisdom, Ignore Material Components, Improved Combat Casting, Improved Combat Reflexes, Improved Darkvision, Improved Low-Light Vision, Improved Metamagic, Improved Spell Capacity, Improved Spell Resistance, Improved Whirlwind Attack, Legendary Climber, Master Staff, Master Wand, Multispell, Penetrate Damage Reduction, Perfect Health, Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting, Polyglot, Self-Concealment, Spell Knowledge, Spell Opportunity, Spell Stowaway, Spellcasting Harrier, Spontaneous Spell, Superior Initiative, Tenacious Magic, Two-Weapon Rend.

Campaign Information

Playing an Martial Arcanist

Religion: Religion varies greatly between Martial Arcanists. Some feel their gift and talent is divine, while others realize they have a gift for both the arcane and combat.

Other Classes: Martial Arcanists typically get along with any other class in the group. Their likeness is dependent more on alignment and action than path of devotion. Martial Arcanists are likely to get along with rogues who share similar personalities to theirs, as they respect the Rogue's ability to adapt to situations.  They respect Fighters, and Swashbucklers, for their ability to hold their own in a fight. The common Martial Arcanists also has a trend of befriending other spell casters, relishing the company of someone as intellectually capable as themselves, and sometimes initiating and enjoying small quarrels with their arcane peers.

Combat: Martial Arcanists have an innate tendency to seek out and focus down enemy spell casters, especially when fighting a large group. An Martial Arcanists will tend to use his/her magic and quick agility to find his/her way behind enemy front lines, where he does everything in his/her power to shut down any spell casters (s)he can find, leaving the front line fighters in his/her party to deal with any cohorts. After any mages have been slain, the Martial Arcanist will turn to face the back of the enemy, landing strikes on any enemies (s)he can flank, using remaining spells to aid allies and disrupt enemies.

Advancement: As a Martial Arcanist, you are part caster, part martial fighter, and part skill specialist. While you do not excel in any of these, selecting feats that add on to each will make you very versatile, which may be more effective than trying to max out one aspect. One good idea is to pick feats such as Combat Reflexes and Combat Casting, to gain free attacks of opportunity against enemies who approach you, then being more proficient at disrupting them with your spells once they reach melee range. This is only one option however, as a class as versatile as the Martial Arcanist contains hundreds of feat combinations.  Look for feats that will emphasize your style of play. For example, a casting-heavy Martial Arcanist may be prone to taking levels of Abjurant Champion, whereas a more stealth focused would choose Mountebank.

Martial Arcanist in the World

Martial Arcanists are not as common as many other classes in the world. The few that are on a payroll are almost exclusively assassins or bodyguard, fetching a fat purse for their unique and impressive talents. Those who are not held down by a paycheck are often adventurous travelers, seeking pay in the form of odd jobs most common people cannot handle without a broad array of skills, such as the Martial Arcanist possess.

Daily Life: Martial Arcanists are either content to carry out their jobs they're given, traveling the world in search of adventures, or traveling the libraries in search of lore. Whatever they come across, they are certain they know how to handle, which leads to many Martial Arcanists pursuing many outrageously different lifestyles, even if they learned their skills from the same cultural texts.

NPC Reactions: NPCs are highly unlikely to think much of an Martial Arcanist. They usually appear to be your average rogue, mage, or sometimes spellsword. If someone has studied the Martial Arcanist before however, they would most likely be awed by their legendary presence, and realize better than to confront them in a one on one engagement.

Martial Arcanist Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (history) can research Martial Arcanists to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

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