Talk:Battlemage, Variant (5e Class)

— This article did not become a featured article. 19:04, 7 February 2024 (MST)
Please feel free to re-nominate it once it meets the FA criteria and when all the major issues brought up in this nomination have been dealt with.

Hello, all. This is a class of mine that I've been working on for some time now. This is in no way related to the already existing Battlemage class. This has been a project of my own for almost three years now. All of my inspiration has been drawn from other games, other classes in the 5e PHB, etc. This class has been my own work. I changed the name to "Battlemage" because Spellknight never sat with me.
A note to the Player - Hello, user of the D&D Wiki. Thank you for taking a look at this class. A lot of work has gone into it & I appreciate your consideration in using the Battlemage. Included below is the full class, 5 subclasses, and over 20 unique spells made specifically for the class. I tried my best to use similar language to the Player's handbook in order to make this class's features as clear as possible, but there is still some inconsistency there. If I took something out that you really liked or changed something in a way that wasn't favorable, feel free to leave a comment in the discussion tab. My username is Rushfire, and here's my rendition of a Hybrid Arcane caster/ Fighter class.

Amazing.

This class is truly amazing, and I'm wondering if it could maybe work in the future with the Archmage Class that I'm currently fixing and improving (might be OP, but that's the specialty with prestige classes above level 20, aren't they?). As a side note, your spells are amazing and it would be cool if you could put them in the Wiki itself for others to use. I mean, they are fucking amazing, original and maybe a bit too strong, but they are cool nonetheless. -Warning issued on 2/18/2020 for profanity.-

Response

Wow.. The Archmagus class looks really really cool. I gave it a look over & definitely OP.. but that's the magic (no pun intended) of beyond Level 20. I've revisited some of the stronger spells & gave them some reworks. Notably Absorb Energy & the removal of Titan's Stature until it can reach a point of fair balance, and the modification of Flurry. I may also need to go back because I noticed that few spells have Verbal components in them & I may want to revisit that so they can be more easily countered.

If there are any spells in particular that stand out as overly strong, feel free to let me know! I tried to use the Creating Spells section of the Dungeon Master's guide as a ballpark for setting spell level.. but quantifying non-damaging spells is difficult since it's not as easy as putting the numbers where they belong. Any Feedback is appreciated!

Rushfire (talk) 12:56, 18 February 2020 (MST)

Pretty Good

My DM and I have play tested this a few times at varying levels and we're both fairly pleased with the results. My only qualm with this so far is the ability to add more dice to forceful strike with mana points was removed. It's slightly hinders the burst damage playstyle for the character I was building, but all-in all a generally good class and easy to build lore around. If I may ask, is it possible to post the chart or PM it for the limit of mana points per certain level?

Response

The only qualm I have with introducing that much potenial for mana points is that it gives a lot of value to something that's meant to be a minor add-on to the class.. This is why I threw in the Arcane Empowerment to give spellcasting (specifically self-buff concentration spells) a little more reward for their usage.

While I don't have the original copy of the Improved Arcana, something that would be compatible with the class in its current state would be the following, and give it a whirl as a replacement for the Arcane Empowerment:

Improved Arcana

Starting at 5th level, you're able to send unbelievably intense bursts of energy into your foes as your mastery over the weave intensifies. When you use your Forceful Strike feature, you can spend an additional mana point to have that attack deal an additional 1d6 force damage to the targeted creature. The additional damage of this feature increases to 2d6 at 10th level, 3d6 at 15th level, and to 4d6 at 20th level.

You can play around with this rule & see how it fits with your build. The reason why mana points used to be so expendable before was because they were regainable on a short rest.. but then it didn't sit well with me that the class had a short rest resource in parallel with its spellcasting... kinda like giving a monk half-casting along with its ki points. But now that they're a long rest resource, I try to prioritize value.. but not too much value.

Also, if you wanna throw caution to the wind & just go all out burst damage.. allow another point to be spent at 9th, 13th, and 17th level, and each point that is spent deals the extra damage detailed above.. This is not a balanced suggestion, and I would expect to find something like that on the april fool's list.. but a fun one if you're looking for unlimited burst damage

Rushfire (talk) 20:32, 14 February 2020 (MST)

Thank you!!

Aww! Thank you guys! I'm glad that you support the class! I'll take a new look at the spells because I have been changing the numbers & may have to revisit some damage values. But the spells now have individual pages, which can be visited by clicking on the name of the spell.

Also, I hope you like the response to solving the problem with your burst-damage build.

Again.. thank you both so much for the feedback!! It's greatly appreciated

Rushfire (talk) 20:32, 14 February 2020 (MST)

Featured Article Nomination

Hello! I'd like to nominate this article for being a quality article as it's been a project of mine for some time now.. Included in the article is the class, 5 subclasses, a half caster spell list, and over 20 new spells. This has been a martial-arcane caster hybrid class that I've been working on since the summer of 2018. I've put a lot of work into this class, and have made sure that essentially every inch of the class is polished, well written, and usable through almost a year of playtesting by not only myself, but of other curious players. I do hope that this nomination goes far & that you all like my rendition of an arcane caster-fighter hybrid class! Rushfire (talk) 20:32, 14 February 2020 (MST)

• Oppose per Featured Article Criteria 3, a featured article must have "...images and other media where they are appropriate to the subject, with succinct captions and acceptable copyright status. Externally hosted images need to be sourced, with adequate attribution to their authors. The images should be relevant and high quality thumbnails sized 300px, 600px, or 750px for very short horizontal images." As of this moment, this page does not meet that criteria. Additionally, per requirement 4, a featured article must have links to the relevant SRD or homebrew pages where rules are referenced. Whenever you are invoking an ability score such as a character's Intelligence modifier, you must also link to the Intelligence page, like so. Additionally, none of the spells mentioned on this page link back to their pages of reference, which is unacceptable for a featured article. Just from a cursory glance, I can tell this page needs a lot of work to match up to our standards. On those grounds I am opposing the nomination of this page. The world needs bullies. Remember to thank a bully today! (talk) 14:23, 17 February 2020 (MST)

Noted. Will do. Rushfire (talk) 20:32, 14 February 2020 (MST)

I am willing to reconsider once you have made those changes. Don't be afraid to ask for help! The world needs bullies. Remember to thank a bully today! (talk) 14:30, 17 February 2020 (MST)

That makes sense. I've just done some cursory searching for fittable images, and since you left the "Intelligence" stub in your message, I can just take that & extrapolate that to any other ability scores that are referenced in the article.

As for making the Spells link to their spell pages, I still need to make spell pages for each of the spells.. The only problem is that I don't know how to make a spell link to a homebrew class. I tried to start making pages for each of the spells, but haven't done so yet. Here's the unfinished link to Absorb Energy, the first spell on the list. If I could just get a properly working link for one of the spells, I can easily rinse & repeat for the rest of them.

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Absorb_Energy_(5e_Spell)

Rushfire (talk) 20:32, 14 February 2020 (MST)

You can link to homebrew spell pages by putting the title of the page you want to link to in two square brackets, like this: [[Absorb Energy (5e Spell)|''absorb energy'']], which gives you a link that looks like this: absorb energy. I also created a category for 3rd-level battlemage spells, and I linked to the spell from this page, for demonstration purposes. Does that give you a better idea of what I want to see? The world needs bullies. Remember to thank a bully today! (talk) 14:56, 17 February 2020 (MST)

That is exactly what I needed. Thank you so much!!! I'm really excited to get this page fully fleshed out & articulated with the links. Now I can just rinse & repeat. Greatly appreciate the step forward. I understand what you need going forward, which is making sure everything is linked up & easily accessible, which makes sense. Rushfire (talk) 21:08, 17 February 2020 (MST)

I do have one more question about materials from sourcebooks that don't have a SRD page here. Should I leave those links blank, such as links to elemental weapon"? Because I'd think that Wizards of the Coast have reason to not upload certain materials from their sourcebooks. Just this last question then I think I'll be all set

I'm glad you asked! For non-SRD material, we have pages on our wiki for reference of copyright status and page number (if applicable), which you can link to the same way you link to a homebrew spell. For example, that spell you just mentioned, elemental weapon? You can use the following URL to link to the reference page: [[Elemental Weapon (5e Spell)|''elemental weapon'']]! The world needs bullies. Remember to thank a bully today! (talk) 15:51, 17 February 2020 (MST)

How does it look now? Rushfire (talk) 11:57, 18 February 2020 (MST)

• Support In light of the above discussion and the recent changes that have been made to this page, I feel like its presentation has improved to the point that it can stand as a featured article. I gladly support this nomination! The world needs bullies. Remember to thank a bully today! (talk) 10:35, 18 February 2020 (MST)

Thank you for your help on bringing my page to where it is @The world needs bullies. Remember to thank a bully today. Very helpful! I also thank you for your support! Who else needs to see & approve of the page in order to get the article checked out for being a "Featured Article"? Rushfire (talk) 12:46, 18 February 2020 (MST)

Any user can review and support a featured article. The only requirement is that is has to reach a clear consensus within 6 months of its nomination. The world needs bullies. Remember to thank a bully today! (talk) 10:51, 18 February 2020 (MST)

The creator has asked me to give this page a review.

Oppose - My main reason for opposing this nomination is that it is significantly better than the Eldritch Knight and cherry-picks several core features from other classes namely: Hexblade's Hex Warrior, Paladin's Divine Smite, Sorcerer's Metamagic, etc. Pairing that with the d10 Hit Die and the benefits of its subclasses this class is arguably better than any other first-party gish such as a Swords Bard, Bladelock, and even the Paladin. All in all the class feel more like a bunch of bells and whistles strapped onto a sorcerer/warlock to make it a better frontline caster than any available first-party content. Without several features being reworked to address these issues and more originality being taken with the overall design/ class features I don't see my vote changing. I'd also recommend reading the DnD_Guidelines sections on classes if you haven't already.

On a more minor but never the less important note, there are also a few capitalization and wording errors I noticed. See Help:When to Italicize and Capitalize.

Good Luck. —ConcealedLight (talk) 20:28, 18 February 2020 (MST)

Thank you, Concealed Light. I feel like that this review was necessary because, in the playtesting I've had in my games, I haven't had much issue with power. In fact, the class recently went through some power increases shortly prior to its nomination to be able to compete with Paladins, Bladelocks, and Swords Bards in my games.. But I do see now that the changes pushed it too far on the strong side, thanks to your review. I do also agree that this class needs more emphasis on lore & backstory, as that's something I haven't worked on for a while. I do have some ideas on what to change about this class to reign its power back, notably the Forceful Strike feature & instead of dealing extra damage, make it such that a player can overcome damage resistance to nonmagical b/p/s damage with that feature. Just some ideas I'm having, but my intention for this class isn't to make something blatantly strong. Yes I want it to be good... but not overly powerful for no reason. Rushfire (talk) 09:52, 19 February 2020 (MST)

So I went through the class & gutted many of the "Fluff" features that I felt pushed it over the top, namely the ones that I added shortly before the nomination of Featured Article (One with the Weave, Potent Surge features, among other things). I also halved the mana point progression because I feel like if that's going to play a role in its design, it probably needed to be less potent than it was, due to the coexisting half-casting of the class. Paralleled with the removal of how Forceful Strike worked previously, I think that the trouble areas mentioned have been properly addressed. My main focus of this round of changes was to aim at dropping the power level of the class to an acceptable level. Once the functionality is at an acceptable place, I can go back in there, fix up my wording, and then take the proper steps towards having a unique, balanced, fun to play & easy to read class. --Rushfire (talk) 14:44, 19 February 2020 (MST)Rushfire

I am not sure that it is significantly better than eldritch knight because 1st level is a AC re-calc, 2nd level only gives spellcasting a level early, all 3rd level subclass features seem on par of fair, 4 & 5 standard, 7th level expend mana point for a 1st level spell (SEVENTH LEVEL!) a feature that has two requirements to be met to concentrate for free if a third criteria met. 8th level reminds me of borrowed fair material, 11th is eldritch knight type thing, maybe better...maybe? etc etc...

Subclasses haven't looked to terribly strong either. I agree, as you see below, it feels very borrowed. Red Leg Leo (talk) 09:29, 21 February 2020 (MST)

• Comment. I don't want to rain on the parade because there's a lot of pride and two years of work here. I share some feelings with ConcealedLight; shared features. I walk through the base class feeling underwhelmed. A different way to calc armor class at level one, fighting style and spellcasting although I do like arcane warrior option, and extra attack. Then there are some things I think are new, benefits that are dependent on concentration or arcane surge. I can't use these features unless I am surging. I do like features that tie with other class flavor but I don't like dead features. then we go back to what I don't think is new, half pro bonus to saving throws, an eldritch knight type way to cast spells as bonus actions, later the orc/barbarian undying benefit and lastly the monk/sorcerer/psion feature of getting resource points back.

Subclasses are better I think? I'll comment them another time. Red Leg Leo (talk) 09:29, 21 February 2020 (MST)

• Response: To be fair, when ConcealedLight had reviewed this class, the mana point progression was equal to level, Arcane Empowerment granted not only an AC bonus, but a bonus to attack and damage rolls, and even a bonus to saving throws.. Not to mention, Arcane Surge allowed for the use of Intelligence as a weapon stat. So the class's combined features were significantly stronger than they currently are. I'll definitely go back through the class, as I think I went a little too hard on the nerfs. But one thing is for sure: I know I don't want to introduce Intelligence as a stat for weapon attacks. I do very much appreciate your feedback @ Red Leg Leo. Right now is a transition point in the Battlemage's balance.

I went through and reworked the lackluster class features. Primarily replacing the "copy" features such as the undying feature at 18th level & replacing it with Arcane Rebuke, and then reworking the class's 11th level feature to something that would be powerful & fitting for the class. Coupled with a rework of Forceful Strikes, I think that this class is at a better place now than it was a week ago, and believe that it is ready for another review of balance. --Rushfire (talk) 20:00, 22 February 2020 (MST)

• Comment and Reserved Judgment: To be honest, voting on this class has been on my back burner. As far as I am looking, I mainly see that there should be some more links between features (using inpage links), for better navigation. From what has been said, my initial feeling is that, yes, if this class is to show any worth against the already existing possible combos between spellcasting and fighting, it will have to be better, most likely. But I don't know by how much this is accomplished. I have currently been given an opportunity in a homebrew campaign, so I will be testing this class. I will make my judgment then with more data.--Yanied (talk) 20:56, 27 April 2021 (MDT)
  • Can you believe only now the playtest is going to begin? I just wanted to add a bit that the arcane strikes section in the Vanguard subclass could benefit from an actual table. The format using the semicolons doesn't indent well in my eyes.--Yanied (talk) 21:20, 25 December 2022 (MST)

* 'Support I love this Battlemage variant class and it would be probably the only homebrew class that I would let my players use. My two big reasons for my support of has to deal with the fact that this is a quality homebrew class, which is impressive given the amount of effort needed in homebrewing these types of articles, and additionally the fact that this class is something that no other official class is; a melee arcane half-caster, while some would say "But the Artificer exists!" they would be forgetting the fact that the artificer is essentially a support class and it will constantly change every other source book (One a year basically.) This class is a mixture of Fighter and Wizard in the same way the Paladin is a mixture of Fighter and Cleric or the Ranger is a mixture of Fighter and Druid without the eldritch knight's awful 1/3rd spellcasting progression. Leíf (talk) 14:44, 22 May 2021 (MDT) 

@Leif Thank you for your support! I'm so glad that you found this class to be so good. A lot of work and thought has gone into this homebrew class, making sure that things are balanced and not *super* overpowered. And that's exactly what I wanted to make, is a melee arcane half-caster that used buff spells to improve their fighting capabilities. I wanted to create distinguished differences between the Eldritch Knight and this class. I wanted to make sure that this class had abilities that expanded it's arcane abilities in combat, such as Tenacious Concentration. I'm glad that you had a chance to play this class in a campaign. --Rushfire (talk) 12:57, 24 May 2021 (MDT)

Oppose: The timeframe on this nomination seems to have run out, so this is likely moot, but I'll weigh in regardless

• Arcane Surge replacing Dexterity with Intelligence doesn't have any precedent elsewhere, and for very good reason. Mix one level of this, one of Barbarian, and two of Bladesinger Wizard, and suddenly you can set your AC to 10 + Int + Int + Con for two minutes a day, yielding a potential AC of 25 with minimal MAD. And players will be abusing it like that, because otherwise it's actually a pretty weak feature—you're a gish, so you're probably maxing Dexterity anyway to hit people with swords.

• Missed this the first time around—a Defender gets an additional +1 AC, gets to shield themself and an ally on a single spellslot, DR 5/-, and +5 to all saving throws. You don't get half cover, but the wording is confusing such that an inattentive DM might give it to you anyway.

• Keep going until you pick up Tenacious Concentration, and you can ignore just about any mundane weapon attacks for the purposes of Concentration (2d6+5 tops out at 17 and you are maxing Con, right?). Harassing a mage with multiple packets of small damage is a the tactic for breaking Concentration, and this feature makes you immune to it.

• Combine this with Defender and it's even worse. DR 5/- increases the damage threshold to even attempt to break your Concentration to 25, and you'll be getting +5 to any saves you do have to make. Mix that with Bladesinger per the previously discussed "tank" build, and you're getting up to +21 to maintain concentration.

• "Knockback Strike" has bonkers knockback. The most similar precedent is Battlemaster's Pushing Attack—you're expending a resource, they make a save or get pushed back more than 10ft. The differences are that Pushing Attack is limited to Large or smaller creatures, only pushes 15ft, and has no option to "upcast" to push further. And on the topic of Arcane Strike in general--you're always going to hit with it. Arcane Accuracy and Spellsword is giving us advantage on the first attack every turn and an additional +3 bonus to-hit on top, so if you're otherwise attacking "on curve" you have a 96% hit chance from this class alone. And you're doing bonus force damage...

In all, this class feels like it's operating in too crowded a field. You either end up muscling into the territory of Bladesinger, Eldritch Knight, Hexblade, or something else, or the features that differentiate you will have broken synergies with those same classes. See, Arcane Surge and Bladesong. —Salasay ♄ 08:24, 18 March 2023 (MDT)

Response To Changes

So things definitely are looking better. I am just going to use bullets for simplicity and hope you don't mind.

1. Level 5 is very strong. Extra attack, 2nd level spells, and arcane empowerment. I encourage removing empowerment and copying ranger/paladin. (this is an instance it is okay, balance stuffz). You could then use that feature somewhere else. Note, artificer has similar feature at level 20 (+1 for each item attunement) Maybe put this on 6th level and only be AC or saving throws, give the option.
2. I could see a little more damage for 18th level feature (8d8???)
3. I think level 20 is perfect. she is real nice.

Subclasses

1. Protection is confusing. Help people like me understand.
2. healing touch needs level annotation. 1 point for 1st level spell but if you allow to scale, don't make it point per spell level.
3. I might allow spiritual sense to be free. 10th level for permanent level 1 thing. see what others say.
4. Devout doesn't feel very related to arcane surge thing like other the defender does. not a bad subclass, but I don't feel same flavor being shared.
5. Elemental Affinity, I would make it change long rest then short rest (when applicable) day counting is kind of moot in D&D unless you are really play admin heavy game. Also, I might personally scale back to 4-5 choices. Again, see what others think.
6. Level 10 elements is weak imo. A language? Lets revisit stuff you took out and see if we can reimplement it.
7. For Affinity for the Fallen, what reaping strike? Also seems a tag weak; speak with dead and regain a feature use. another one we revisit.
8. Forme Macabre in a nutshell is fast healing and condition immunities. Potential is here and I feel we can boost this a little.
9. Deadly Strikes is weird. extra damage for being attacked not damaged, and extra damage for failing a save throw. Potentially 2d6 yeah? or always 2d6?

Again, much improvement. And with a few touch ups the class should be pretty good. Red Leg Leo (talk) 10:18, 16 March 2020 (MDT)

Thank you very much for the review! I know that this class was definitely a lot to look at and I really appreciate the review. I'll make the necessary changes & will look forward to the next round of reviews! --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT)

Main Class Response

(5th Level) I just had this thought a few days ago. I'll throw that feature into 6th level. --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

(Arcane Retaliation) The only trepidation I have with more damage is that it's a save for half feature. If I up the damage, I'll certainly have to up the cost. We'll see what other people say about it. --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

(20th Level) Thank you!! --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

Subclass Responses

(Protection) Essentially what I ended up doing was limiting the use of the protection feature down to the spells that the subclass learns as reactions: Shield, Absorb Kinetics, and Absorb Energy. --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

(Healing Touch) Will add that immediately. --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

(Spiritual Sense) Interesting, but will keep in mind. --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

(Devout) I agree. I think I need to elaborate more on how the subclass blends the arcane with the divine, and uses their knowledge of magic to evoke healing and other divine magic. --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

(Level 10 Elements) This feature was intentionally weak because under Weapon of the Elements, at level 10, the user can use Mana points to smite with their elemental affinity. --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

(Affinity for the Fallen) Reaping Strike = Siphoning Strike. I fixed the wording.

(Forme Macabre) Good to Know. --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

(Deadly Strikes) Agreed. I'll readjust to make it a little more straightforward. --Rushfire (talk) 09:02, 21 March 2020 (MDT))

Image copyright

Unless you asked for permission from the artist of the image that is currently being used on this page, it does not follow copyright standards. You should either contact the artist for permission to use the image or find an image with an open license. --PJammaz (talk) 15:35, 13 March 2020 (MDT)

How do I certify that permission is granted to use the image? (Edit): I just emailed the artist & he said that I'm in the clear to use the image. How can I confirm that permission is granted? --Rushfire (talk) 16:10, 13 March 2020 (MDT)

I would just indicate somewhere on the page that the permission was granted, this way we know in the future that the image doesn't violate copyright --PJammaz (talk) 16:27, 13 March 2020 (MDT)

Got it. Thank you! --Rushfire (talk) 16:34, 13 March 2020 (MDT)

Recent Changes

So this class has undergone some relatively minor, but fairly important changes recently & is nearing a point of completion. Most of the changes of late have been towards reducing the number of class resources that the player must keep track of when playing this class. I wanted to narrow it down to Mana Points, and Spell slots. Everything the class does either costs mana points or spell slots because I feel that having two resources, just from this one class, is *plenty* to keep track of.

Secondly, I've began labeling recent changes in the changelog for this class, so that it's more identifiable what changes have been made & when.

--Rushfire (talk) 08:45, 28 April 2020 (MDT)

Removed the following subclasses:

Study of Mortality

Few battlemages are morally twisted enough to taking such a study. In many places, the things you learn are considered illegal or forbidden knowledge. In your studies, you’ve focused mainly on necromancy & the study of the energy that concern life & death. Be cautious about who you show these powers to, for they may bring you unwanted attention & could lead to trouble. Powerful battlemages of the study of mortality can often be mistaken for vampires due to their altered physicality & the way they often times present themselves.

Siphoning Strike

Starting at 3rd level, you can steal life energy after striking a creature with your weapon. If you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack while Arcane Surge is active, you can spend a spell slot of 1st level or higher to cause the life forces within the creature to waiver. The targeted creature takes 2d6 necrotic damage, plus 1d6 for each slot level after 1st, and must make a Constitution saving throw equal to your spell save DC. On a failed save, choose a number of effects from the list below equal to half the spell slot level used (rounded up).

• You impart the chill of the grave onto the targeted creature. The creature cannot regain hit points until the end of its next turn.

• You drink the life force from this creature. You gain temporary hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt.

• You weaken the creature. Until the end of its next turn, all damage the creature deals with weapon attacks is halved.

• You fill the creature with a wave of sickening energy. The creature is poisoned until the end of its next turn.

• You remind the creature of the fragility of life & impart upon it a horrific fear. The creature is frightened of you until the end of its next turn.

• You've been given insight on the creature's strengths and weaknesses. Your next melee weapon attack has advantage.

• The creature's life force invigorates you & sends a surge of energy through you. You can immediately take another action. This action can only be used to take the Attack (one weapon attack only), Dash, Disengage, Hide, or Use an Object action.

On a successful save, no effect is applied. Constructs & undead automatically succeed this saving throw.

Deathly Disposition

At 3rd level, you learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Study of Mortality spells table. These spells count as battlemage spells for you, but don't count against the number of battlemage spells you know.

Study of Mortality Spells

Character Level	Spells
3rd	hex, ray of sickness
5th	gentle repose, ray of enfeeblement
9th	animate dead, bestow curse
13th	blight, death ward
17th	danse macabre, raise dead

Reaper's Grip

Starting at 6th level, if a creature that is under the effects of a spell cast by you succeeds the saving throw associated with your Siphoning Strike, you can use your reaction to decrease their roll by 1d4 + your Intelligence modifier. Once you use this feature, you must complete a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Affinity for the Fallen

At 10th level, your dealings with undead have granted you a limited ability to speak with them. You can cast speak with dead as a ritual.

Forme Macabre

Starting at 14th level, you can fundamentally alter yourself to gain the benefits of a slowed heart rate, cold skin, and deathly features. When you activate your Arcane Surge, you can change your creature type from humanoid to undead.

While undead, you gain the following benefits:

• You are immune to poison, disease, exhaustion, and resistant to necrotic damage.
• If you are poisoned, diseased, or take points of exhaustion when you enter this form, the effect is suspended for the duration of your Arcane Surge.
• You cannot have your hit point maximum reduced.
• At the start of each of your turns you regain hit points equal to twice your Intelligence modifier if you are below half of your hit point maximum. You do not regain these hit points if you have taken fire or radiant damage since the end of your last turn. (Reminder: Healing spells have no effect on undead or constructs)
• Whenever you are reduced to 0 hit points and not killed outright, unless the damage you took included fire damage, radiant damage, or was a critical hit you can make a Constitution saving throw. The DC equals 10 or half the damage you take, whichever is higher. On a successful save, you drop to 1 hit point instead.

You are considered undead for features that detect undead such as a paladin’s divine sense. Additionally, anything that has additional effects on undead, such as a divine smite or a holy aura spell, affect you in these additional ways.

Study of the Devout

Battlemages that undertake the study of the Devout are individuals that look at the powers that gods have, and wish to understand the kind of magic they wield. These individuals are not necessarily devoted to a god in particular. They could even be seen as a scourge from the Pantheon for mocking the gods by using their magic. Other gods may find it flattering that a mortal wishes to wield the kind of magic they do. Either way, a devout battlemage does not obtain power from worship or devotion to an oath. They instead learn how this magic works & apply it themselves. Their study of religion and the divine goes further than reading the stories passed down through the generations about the divine; but they look deeper & search for the means through which to obtain the gods' power.

Question: why would I pick this over a paladin? This class is a battlemage. It provides heavy emphasis on studies & learning about magic and how it applies to combat. Paladins are devoted warriors that are given powers by their diety. Devout Battlemages learned everything that they can use, which means that they know how it works & how to reproduce the effect in a series of equations or in ways that are measurable & reproducable. Because of this, the Devout battlemage has relatively shallow access to the kinds of powers that clerics & paladins have, but have magic that is in the same realm of producing similar effects.

Bolstering Touch

Starting at 3rd level, you've studied the religious texts & have done immense amounts of research into the magic behind healing & how to provide that magic. As a result of this research, you are able to bolster life forces in a similar way. As an action, you can expend a 1st level spell slot to give a creature a number of temporary hit points equal to 1d8 + your Intelligence modifier. The number of temporary hit points increases by 1d8 for every level of the spell slot used after 1st.

Divine Studies

You've spent hours researching about the gods' magic that it's unavoidable for you to have picked up the lore behind the gods & the stories relating to the pantheon. You gain proficiency in Religion checks.

Divine Magic

At 3rd level, you learn a additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Study of the Devout spells table. These spells count as battlemage spells for you, but don't count against the number of battlemage spells you know.

Study of the Devout Spells

Character Level	Spells
3rd	divine favor, shield of faith
5th	lesser restoration, spiritual weapon
9th	dispel magic, remove curse
13th	banishment, death ward
17th	greater restoration, holy weapon

The Mystery of Faith

Starting at 6th level, your continued research of the divine brings you further discoveries. As an action, you can expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher to present your spellcasting focus & affect creatures of your choice. Each creature of your choice that can see or hear you within 20 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, each of the targeted creatures are either frightened or charmed by you for 1 minute or until it takes any damage. The save DC is equal to your Spellcasting save DC.

Additionally, each creature that fails the saving throw takes 1d8 radiant damage for each level of the spell slot used. This damage does not end the charm or fright.

Spiritual Senses

Starting at 10th level, your experimentation with the divine gives you moderate awareness of good & evil presences. You learn the detect evil & good spell, and you can cast detect evil & good at will.

Radiance

Starting at 14th level, divine energy flows through you, being channeled at your very will. While Arcane Surge is active, you gain the following benefits:

• Your Bolstering Touch feature can be used as an action or a bonus action, but not both.

• If you hit a creature that has failed the saving throw to your Mystery of Faith feature that is still charmed or frightened by you, you deal an additional 2d8 radiant damage to that creature.

• Your Mystery of Faith feature's range increases to 30 feet.

--Rushfire (talk) 07:48, 8 December 2020 (MST)

Spells

Some of the spells created for this class may break the game. For example Stacking Warrior's Vigor and Barrier before the battle give an bonus +3 armor class, using Magic Shield and the [Surge/Protection] feature fives a total bonus of +9 armor class. As much as I love this class it needs a nerf. I would suggest a reduction of duration from 1 hour to 10 or 1 minute or an addition of conctentration to more spells.

Noted. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I can make some changes immediately.--Rushfire (talk) 17:33, 2 February 2021 (MST)

Edit: So I made a few changes to address these concerns.

1.) I just outright removed warrior's vigor from the spell list. I never really liked the spell in the first place & kinda just slapped it together to say "ooh I have another 4th level spell"..

2.) I reduced the AC boost of Barrier from 2 to 1, and increased the hit points of the barrier from 6d8 to 8d8.

3.) I made it so that, in order to gain any benefit from the Magic Shield spell, a reaction is needed. So it becomes like a reusable shield spell, kind of like how far step is a reusable misty step but better. Even if, somehow, you had 2 reactions... I added a clause in there that, while under the effects of this reaction, you cannot gain the benefits of a shield spell, just to extra make sure there isn't any broken +10 AC stack in there.

So, if my math is right, the AC stack went from 1 (Warrior's Vigor) +2 (Barrier) + 1 (Shielding Surge) + 2 (Magic Shield's base) + 5 (Protection feature) = 11

Down to +1 (Barrier) +5 (Magic Shield OR Shield) +1 (Shielding Surge) = 7

I want to re-iterate how glad I am that you pointed this out. It's because of you that I can make these targeted changes and improve the class. I hope these changes make this class much less game-breaking

A response to these changes would be very much appreciated. I'm glad that you love the class, and I hope this makes you love it even more!

--Rushfire (talk) 17:55, 2 February 2021 (MST)

These changes sound great. Good job keeiping this class updated. --Koutouparos (talk) 02:48, 7 February 2021 (MST)

Relating to spells, Would it be ok for me if I added some spells to the spell list and if I am allowed to, what kind of spells should I add to the spell list in order to fit with the theme Leíf (talk) 15:58, 26 October 2021 (MDT)

About Multiclassing

Hey. Nice class. A lot of thought was put into it and it's features, but there is a thing I want to mention, that no one for some reason asked about, even once. Normally a class, upon multiclassing into it, gives you a part of its proficiencies regarding armor and/or weapons. Rogues and rangers give you a skill proficiency of your choosing(from that class' list, of course). Here you gain EVERYTHING, even two skills, although predetermined. My question is simple. Why? Or, even better one: Should it? Right now there is no reason to ever start from this class in case of multiclassing(equipment isn't really a reason). --Cezaryx (talk) 05:25, 10 January 2022 (MST)