Eldritch Knight Revised
Spellcasting
When you reach 3rd level, you augment your martial prowess with the ability to cast spells. See chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting and chapter 11 for the wizard spell list.
Cantrips. You learn two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. You learn an additional wizard cantrip of your choice at 10th level.
Spell Slots. The Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your wizard spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest. For example, if you know the 1st-level spell shield and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast shield using either slot.
Spells Known of 1st-Level and Higher. You know three 1st-level wizard spells of your choice, two of which you must choose from the abjuration and evocation spells on the wizard spell list. The Spells Known column of the Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows when you learn more wizard spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be an abjuration or evocation spell of your choice, and must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 7th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.
The spells you learn at 8th, 14th, and 20th level can come from any school of magic.
Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the wizard spells you know with another spell of your choice from the wizard spell list. The new spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots, and it must be an abjuration or evocation spell, unless you're replacing the spell you gained at 3rd, 8th, 14th, or 20th level from any school of magic.
Spellcasting Ability. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your wizard spells, since you learn your spells through study and memorization. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a wizard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
War Magic
Starting at 3rd level, you learn to weave magic into your combat pattern. When you take the Attack action, you can forgo one weapon attack in order to cast a wizard spell. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action and must be of a level you have spell slots for, as shown in the Eldritch Knight Spellcasting Table.
A cantrip cast in this way deals additional damage equal to your intelligence modifier but gains no benefits from being cast by a character of a higher level.
Eldritch Knight Spellcasting
| Fighter Level | Cantrips Known | Spells Known | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | 2 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 4th | 2 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 5th | 2 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 6th | 2 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 7th | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | — | — |
| 8th | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | — | — |
| 9th | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | — | — |
| 10th | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | — | — |
| 11th | 3 | 8 | 4 | 3 | — | — |
| 12th | 3 | 8 | 4 | 3 | — | — |
| 13th | 3 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 14th | 3 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 15th | 3 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 16th | 3 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — |
| 17th | 3 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — |
| 18th | 3 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — |
| 19th | 3 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 20th | 3 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Weapon Bond
At 7th level, you learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.
Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself it gains the following benefits;
- The weapon becomes magical if it wasn't already
- You can use the weapon as a spellcasting focus for your wizard spells
- You can't be disarmed of the weapon unless you are incapacitated.
- While the weapon is within 30 feet of you, you can teleport it in order to draw or stow it.
- If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon a bonded weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.
You can have up to two bonded weapons. If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.
Arcane Charge
Starting at 10th level you learn to utilize threads of residual magic left behind after your casting. On your turn, when you cast a wizard spell of 1st-level or higher you can choose one of the following effects;
- If the spell deals damage, you can wreathe your weapon in its energy. The next time you hit a creature with the weapon before the end of your next turn, it deals an additional 2d8 damage of the same type dealt by the spell. If the spell has multiple damage types, choose one.
- You teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. You can teleport immediately before or after you cast the spell.
Eldritch Strike
At 15th level, you learn how to make your weapon strikes undercut a creature's resistance to your spells. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, that creature has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against a spell you cast before the end of your next turn.
Improved Arcane Charge
At 18th level, your mastery of residual magic extends to even the smallest threads. You can use your Arcane Charge feature even when you cast a cantrip. When you do so, the additional damage is reduced to 1d8 and the distance you can teleport is reduced to 15 feet.
Balance Thoughts
- 3rd level is pretty weak. War magic gives you a novel way of boosting cantrips to be competitive with a regular attack while preventing it being abusable by a dip. Other than that, you only get 2 1st-level spells that have no additional synergy.
- One interesting caveat is that due to the wording, War Magic lets you use BB and GFB with TWF. The revision significantly nerfs those spells' synergy with the class though.
- 5th really brings the class online allowing you to mix up attacks with spells, including leveled spells. Still has some measures to prevent dipping out into a fullcaster.
- 7th inlcudes the old weapon bond with a few QoL buffs. You can bamf the weapon to your hand much easier over short ranges which lets you pull shenanigans with thrown weapons, it's magical and you can use it as a focus.
- 10th brings a revamped Arcane Charge. The old one was ridiculously situational and you were likely wasting the teleport just for action surge or worse, wasting your action surge for a teleport. This version rewards a player for playing like a gish. 2d8 additional damage might sound like a lot but you only have 7 spell slots per long rest and at 2nd-level even your biggest bombs aren't going to be much better than a regular attack. At this level a battlemaster has 5 d10 superiority dice and with 2 short rests thats a total of 15d10 potential damage vs the 14d8 you could get out of this.
- 15th has Eldritch Strike. I moved it here because it's a seriously powerful feature and now that you can basically proc it on every spell you cast, it's even stronger.
- 18th has an upgrade to Arcane Charge. Since Improved War Magic is redundant with this revision I decided to go with a feature along the lines of the sword bards Master's Flourish and let them proc a weaker Arcane Charge unlimitedly.