True Magus (Su)
At 20th level, the magus becomes a master of spells and combat. Whenever he uses his spell combat ability, he does not need to make a concentration check to cast the spell defensively. Whenever the magus uses spell combat and his spell targets the same creature as his melee attacks, he can choose to either increase the DC to resist the spell by +2, grant himself a +2 circumstance bonus on any checks made to overcome spell resistance, or grant himself a +2 circumstance bonus on all attack rolls made against the target during his turn.
Magus Spell List Magi gain access to the following spells. While most of these spells are found in the Core Rulebook, those marked with an asterisk (*) appear in Chapter 5 of this book, and those marked with two asterisks (**) appear in the Advanced Player’s Guide.
0-Level Magus Spells—acid splash, arcane mark, dancing lights, daze, detect magic, disrupt undead, flare, ghost sound, light, mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, ray of frost, read magic, spark**.
1st-Level Magus Spells—burning hands, chill touch, color spray, corrosive touch*, enlarge person, expeditious retreat, feather fall, flare burst**, floating disk, frostbite*, grease, hydraulic push**, jump, magic missile, magic weapon, mount, obscuring mist, ray of enfeeblement, reduce person, shield, shocking grasp, silent image, stone fist**, true strike, unseen servant, vanish**. 2nd-Level Magus Spells—acid arrow, alter self, bear’s endurance, blood transcription*, blur, bull’s strength, burning gaze**, cat’s grace, darkness, defensive shock*, elemental touch**, fire breath**, flaming sphere, fog cloud, frigid touch*, glitterdust, gust of wind, invisibility, levitate, minor image, mirror image, pyrotechnics, scorching ray, shatter, spider climb, stone call**, web.
3rd-Level Magus Spells—aqueous orb**, arcane sight, beast shape I, blink, cloak of winds**, daylight, dispel magic, displacement, elemental aura**, fireball, flame arrow, fly, force hook charge*, force punch*, gaseous form, haste, hydraulic torrent**, keen edge, lightning bolt, magic weapon (greater), major image, monstrous physique I*, phantom steed, ray of exhaustion, sleet storm, slow, stinking cloud, undead anatomy I*, vampiric touch, versatile weapon**, water breathing, wind wall. 4th-Level Magus Spells—arcana theft*, ball lightning**, beast shape II, black tentacles, detonate**, dimension door, dragon’s breath**, elemental body I, enlarge person (mass), fire shield, firefall**, ice storm, invisibility (greater), monstrous physique II*, phantasmal killer, reduce person (mass), river of wind**, shout, solid fog, stoneskin, vermin shape I*, wall of fire, wall of ice, wall of sound*.
5th-Level Magus Spells—acidic spray*, baleful polymorph, beast shape III, cloudkill, cone of cold, corrosive consumption*, elemental body II, fire snake**, geyser**, interposing hand, monstrous physique III*, overland flight, telekinesis, teleport, undead anatomy II*, vermin shape II*, wall of force, wall of stone. 6th-Level Magus Spells—acid fog, bear’s endurance (mass), beast shape IV, bull’s strength (mass), cat’s grace (mass), chain lightning, contagious flame**, disintegrate, dispel magic (greater), elemental body III, flesh to stone, forceful hand, form of the dragon I, freezing sphere, mislead, monstrous physique IV*, sirocco**, stone to flesh, transformation, true seeing, undead anatomy III*, wall of iron.
Spellcasters Spellcasters class features can replace or alter the same class feature from the base class as another alternate class feature. For example, a druid could not be both a mooncaller and a shark shaman, since both archetypes replace the venom immunity class feature with something different.
If an archetype replaces a class ability that is part of a series of improvements or additions to a base ability (such as a fighter’s weapon training or a ranger’s favored enemy), the next time the character would gain that ability, it counts as the lower-level ability that was replaced by the archetype. In effect, all abilities in that series are delayed until the next time the class improves that ability. For example, if an archetype replaces a rogue’s +2d6 sneak attack bonus at 3rd level, when she reaches 5th level and gains a sneak attack bonus, her sneak attack doesn’t jump from +1d6 to +3d6— it improves to +2d6, just as if she had finally gained the increase at 3rd level. This adjustment continues for every level at which her sneak attack would improve, until at 19th level she has +9d6 instead of the +10d6 of a standard rogue. Adapting Existing Characters Players with existing characters should talk with their GM about whether or not these alternate class features are available in her game, and if so, whether they can retroactively modify their characters to adopt them. As alternate class features are designed to be balanced with those in the base class, players who revise their characters shouldn’t gain any special advantage over other party members. As long as the GM is comfortable with retroactively adjusting character specifics, there should be no disruption to future adventures. Typically, the best time for a player to adopt alternate class features and significantly revise his character is when leveling up between adventures, though he should always check with the GM before doing so, as she may wish to work significant changes to fit the revised character into the campaign. While GMs might want to make concessions for players who didn’t have these alternate class features available to them when creating their characters, PCs should be one of the most constant elements of a campaign. Constantly changing and recreating characters can prove problematic to a campaign. GMs should be willing to adapt and may allow players who grow bored with their characters to redefine them, but alternate class abilities shouldn’t feel like exploitable options allowing players to build and rebuild their characters in whatever ways seem most advantageous at a given moment. Allowing players to remake characters in light of newly adopted rules may be desirable on occasion, but GMs shouldn’t feel like they’re being unfair or breaking any rule by not allowing players to rebuild characters or by disallowing certain options. While GMs should always strive to help players run the characters they want, ultimately they know what’s best for their campaigns.
Spellcasting Class Options From the studious wizard to the cryptic oracle, each base class in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game draws upon a central archetype, a basic concept representing the commonly held idea of what a character of a certain class should be, and designed to be useful as a foundation to the widest possible array of characters. Beyond that basic concept, however, exists the potential for innumerable interpretations and refinements. A member of the paladin class, for example, might be a holy knight, a champion against undead, or a defender of the innocent, with each alternative refined by a player’s choice of details, class options, and specific rules to better simulate the character she imagines and make that character more effective at pursuing her specific goals. Some archetypes, however, prove pervasive and exciting enough to see use in play time and time again. To help players interested in creating iconic fantasy characters, the following pages explore new rules, options, and alternate class features for each spellcasting base class. For example, while most alchemists dabble in potions and poison, some try to unlock the secrets of life and death.
While the types of options presented for each base class differ, each subsystem and archetype is customized to best serve that class, emulate the abilities and talents of classic fantasy tropes, and expand players’ freedom to design exactly the characters they desire. Discoveries marked with a single asterisk (*) first appear in this book. Alternate Class Features The following pages include alternate class features for each class. When a character selects a class, he must choose to use the standard class features found in the Core Rulebook or Advanced Player’s Guide or those listed in one of the archetypes presented here. Each alternate class feature replaces a specific class feature from its parent class. For example, the enhance healing class feature of the songhealer bard archetype replaces versatile performance from the standard bard class. When an archetype includes multiple class features, a character must take them all—often blocking the character from ever gaining certain standard class features, but replacing them with other options. All other class features of the base class and not mentioned among the alternate class features remain unchanged and are acquired normally when the character reaches the appropriate level (unless noted otherwise). A character who takes an alternate class feature does not count as having the class feature that was replaced for the purposes of meeting any requirements or prerequisites. A character can take more than one archetype and garner additional alternate class features, but none of the alternate ® ™
Replaced or modified by archetypes
- Weapon Mastery (Kensai)
- Armor Mastery (Myrmidarch)