Knight of the Eclipse (War Wizards in Pathfinder)

[Anderlith]

The knights of the medieval era where the special forces of their time. Heavily armored, highly trained men on horseback. So why would the "special forces" of a fantasy game still be knights? What good is a cavalry charge against a fireball?
Therefore the special forces should be wizards train in battle with access to versatile spellpower, to always be able to push the advantage in a fight. Chivalrous, steadfast & loyal. They are diplomats & warriors of valor. It is not unhonorable to fight with magic, it is just another tool of war.

So it's always annoyed me that you can't find any battle mage support outside of the wizards of Cormyr prestige class, which in my opinion very outdated. Most archetypes/classes turn you into a gish, & that isn't quite what I'm wanting

So for use in Pathfinder I propose this:

Wizard Archetype: Knight of the Eclipse

No school specialization.
Banned Schools of Necromancy & Illusion. There practices are not honorable & are shady at best
Arcane Bond is a pair of warcaster gauntlets. They give the wearer +1 Caster Level, as well as the normal bonuses of an Arcane Bond
Arcana Pool (Level/3) just like the Magus.
Level 1: They gain the three abilities bellow
Force Blade- Conjure a blade in a free hand,Swift action to conjure & maintain, doesn't interfere with spellcasting, +(level) to hit 1d8+Int damage, 1 Arcana pt per round
Force Ward- +Int Shield Bonus, Immediate action, doesn't interfere with spellcasting, 1 Arcana pt per round
Burning Focus- Any spell with a duration longer than one round can be extended by one round per spell level, Swift action to sustain

Other Arcana that they have access to,
Empowered Magic
Maximize Magic
Quickened Magic
Reflection
Rod Mastery
Rod Wielder
Silent magic
Still Magic
Wand Mastery

They gain a new arcana every three levels, they do not gain wizard feats.

Level Four they get Spell Recall & at level six they get Improved Spell Recall

They belong to the organization Knights of the Eclipse (working title) They have to be lawful. They must abide by the laws & rules of the Knights or be kicked out & can't advance this class

What do you think? Too overpowered? Not enough uniqueness to warrant this Archetype? How can I make it better?

[ngilop]

Not to be disruptive but it sounds more like a prestige class than an ACF

SO bascially Knight of the Eclipse are Magus light with beetter spell casting?

[DiBastet]

It should give up familiar so it's not too strong.

Ps: "Arcane bond" just didn't make the joke sound so good.

[LordofBones]

Battlefield mages arbitrarily giving up Necromancy and Illusion seems odd. I understand you're going for the knight theme, but the "special forces" should at least see the value of misdirection and insta-kill spells.

By that logic, Enchantment and Conjuration should be dishonorable too; enchanters bend and break minds while conjurers make others do their fighting for them.

[ErrantX]

Originally Posted by ngilop

Not to be disruptive but it sounds more like a prestige class than an ACF

SO bascially Knight of the Eclipse are Magus light with beetter spell casting?

I have to second ngilop here. Arcane pool should just be the province of the magus; granting it to an archetype cheapens in for both. Alternately, you could have the wizard have to sacrifice spells for arcane pool-like abilities, but again, that would be cheapening it.

I would instead consider bringing this into a full 10 level prc and expanding upon your ideas as a concept. I'd also suggest keeping out the arcane pool, unless you wanted to make this either a magus/wizard multiclass prestige class, or if you were to make it a Magus only prestige class. Keep magus special and keep the arcane pool out of a wizard's hands.

-X

[Anderlith]

Originally Posted by DiBastet

It should give up familiar so it's not too strong.

Ps: "Arcane bond" just didn't make the joke sound so good.

Arcane Bond is from Pathfinder's wizard. I can be a familiar or it can be a focus object.

[Anderlith]

Originally Posted by LordofBones

Battlefield mages arbitrarily giving up Necromancy and Illusion seems odd. I understand you're going for the knight theme, but the "special forces" should at least see the value of misdirection and insta-kill spells.

By that logic, Enchantment and Conjuration should be dishonorable too; enchanters bend and break minds while conjurers make others do their fighting for them.

As much as I thought about excluding those schools, there are too many useful spells that have nothing to do with summoning help :(, so I just went with the basic, no necro, no illusions

[Mulletmanalive]

Originally Posted by Anderlith

Arcane Bond is from Pathfinder's wizard. I can be a familiar or it can be a focus object.

It's a Lightning Warrior joke. Don't worry about it. He just meant the Pathfinder term didn't sound as funny to him as the original wording of the joke.