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The Revised Warrior Mage

Copyright Bruce Meyer ©2003

Edited by Peter Mork for The Guild Companion

The Warrior Mage in its current incarnation is ineffective; his current skill costs keep him limited in his combat abilities thereby forcing him to rely on spells to help him in combat. That, in turn, keeps him from being a spell-using asset to the party. My view of the Warrior Mage is a competent fighter who (without the use of spells) is able to hold his own in a melee situation and is a valuable asset to any group when it comes to spell casting. The current Warrior Mage seems intended more to protect himself than to assist the party when in need. So here are my renditions of effective, yet balanced, Warrior Mages: One is a re-make of the current Warrior Mage. The other is a variant of the Mage Hunter from Arcane Companion.

Basic Warrior Mage

I reduced the Athletic group bonus to +5 and increased the weapon group to +10. I did this to reflect that the Warrior Mage is more of a warrior and less of an athlete.

For skill cost changes, I compared the current Warrior Mage to the Semi- variant of the Priest in Channeling Companion, the Arms Master from Mentalism Companion and the Chaotic and Mage Hunter professions from Arcane Companion.  The first change was to lower the cost of body development to 4/10 from 6/12.  I then reduced the weapon category costs to 2/5, 3/9, 4/10, 4, 4, 4, and 6.  This gives the Warrior Mage more power and flexibility in physical combat. I also lowered the cost of Directed Spells to 3/9 (from 4), Special Defenses to 20 (from 40) and Combat Maneuvers to 4/10 (from 5/12). In truth, when developing this profession, the changes may not be apparent. One would need to focus on combat abilities and gain proficiency in many weapon types to really see the difference. All in all the changes I have made more aptly define what a Warrior Mage is: a warrior and a mage.

Spell Lists

Recommended Base Lists:

  • Combat Illusions (EssCo)
  • Warrior Enhancement's (EssCo)
  • Spell Defense (EssCo)
  • Lofty Bridge (closed list from Of Essence)
  • Warrior's Weapon (EssCo)
  • Choose one from the Magician base lists found in either Spell Law or Of Essence

(Alternatively, a character can choose base lists from these six and the remaining two normal base lists)

Profession Bonuses

Athletic Group: +5
Awareness Group: +5
Body Development: +10
Combat Maneuvers: +10
Power Awareness: +5
Power Manipulation: +5
Weapon Group: +10

Skill Costs

A comparison of the revised skill costs and the old skill costs.

Category Revised Old
Armor-Heavy 10 10
Armor-Light 8 8
Armor-Medium 9 9
Artistic: Active 2/5 2/5
Artistic: Passive 2/5 2/5
Athletic: Brawn 3/7 3/7
Athletic: Endurance 2/7 2/7
Athletic: Gymnastics 3/7 3/7
Awareness: Perceptions 4/12 4/12
Awareness: Searching 2/6 2/6
Awareness: Senses 3/7 3/7
Body Development 4/10 6/14
Combat Maneuvers 4/10 5/12
Communications 3/3/3 3/3/3
Crafts 4/10 4/10
Directed Spells 3/9 4
Influence 2/6 2/6
Lore: General 1/3 1/3
Lore: Magical 2/6 2/6
Lore: Obscure 3/7 3/7
Lore: Technical 2/6 2/6
M. A. Combat Maneuvers 5/12 5/12
Martial Arts: Striking 4 4
Martial Arts: Sweeping 4 4
Outdoor: Animal 2/7 2/7
Outdoor: Environmental 2/7 2/7
Power Awareness 2/7 2/7
Power Manipulation 6/12 6/12
Power Point Dev. 8 8
Science/Analytic: Basic 2/5 2/5
Science/Analytic: Spec. 8 8
Self Control 2/7 2/7
Special Attacks 6 6
Special Defenses 20 40
Subterfuge: Attack 8 8
Subterfuge: Mechanics 4 4
Subterfuge: Stealth 2/7 2/7
Tech./Trade: General 3/7 3/7
Tech./Trade: Professional 8 8
Tech./Trade: Vocational 5/12 5/12
Urban 3/7 3/7
Weapon Cat 1 2/5 3/9
Weapon Cat 2 3/9 6
Weapon Cat 3 4/10 7
Weapon Cat 4 4 8
Weapon Cat 5 4 10
Weapon Cat 6 4 15
Weapon Cat 7 6 15
Arcane Base Lists 40 40
Arcane Open Lists 12 12
Arcane Closed Lists 18 18
Other Realm Base Lists 80 80
Other Realm Closed Lists 45 45
Other Realm Open Lists 30 30
Own Realm Closed Lists 10/10 10/10
Own Realm Open Lists 8/8 8/8
Own Realm Other Base 25 25
Own Realm Own Base 6/6/6 6/6/6
Own Realm TP 6/6/6 6/6/6
Other Realm TP 12/12 12/12

Arcane Warrior Mage

The Arcane Warrior Mage is a variant of the Mage Hunter with its own spell lists and professional bonuses.

Spell Lists

Unless otherwise indicated all spell lists come from Arcane Companion

  • Elemental Energy (Fire and Ice Arcane Elementalist base list)
  • Detection Law
  • Arcane Senses
  • Arcane Healing
  • Arcane Motions (Chaotic Base)
  • Blade Runes

Profession Bonuses

Armor Group: +5
Awareness Group: +5
Body Development: +5
Power Awareness: +10
Spell Group: +10
Urban Group: +5
Weapon Group: +10

Skill Costs

The skill costs for the Arcane Warrior Mage are the same as the Mage Hunter.

In closing I'd like to say that these versions might still have a lot of bugs in them. I am open to constructive criticism and any ideas that may help to improve this much beloved profession. Thank you.

Bruce Meyer (aka MadMax)
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