Mage Knight
Hit Points
Hit Dice: d10 per Mage Knight level
Hit Points at first Level: 10 + Constitution Modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 6 + Constitution Modifier per Mageknight level after 1st
Proficiences
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons. If this is your starting class (Character level 1), you can trade out your proficiency with martial weapons, medium armor, and shields for a martial tradition.
Tools: Choose one type of artisan’s tools or one musical instrument
Saving Throws: One each of: Strength, Intelligence, or Charisma; Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom
Skills: Choose any two.
Overview & Creation
The Mageknight is a warrior who mixes magic and blade in the heat of combat. Mageknights aren’t limited in their choice of spheres, so they tend to come up with unique combinations that suit their personal style.
Quick Build
You can make a mageknight quickly by following these suggestions. First, choose the Noble background. Choose Mysticism as your casting tradition. Wisdom should be your key ability and highest score. Your next-highest score should be Strength or Dexterity, depending upon whether you want to focus on melee weapons or ranged combat (or finesse weapons). Your third-highest score should be Constitution. You gain the Fate sphere, and choose the Enhancement sphere, these are the bonus magic talents from your casting tradition.
Trade out your medium armor, shield, and martial weapon proficiencies for the Knight martial tradition, gaining the Armored Training (x2) and Knightly Training talents, and choosing Warleader for your variable talent.
Class Features
Fighting Style
At 2nd level, you gain a fighting style. Choose one of the following options.
- Archery: You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.
- Defense: While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
- Dueling: When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
- Great Weapon Fighting: When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
- Magic Spheres Adept: (Prerequisites: You must have an Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score of 13 or higher to select this style option.) You gain a casting tradition. You do not, however, gain any spell points. If you already possess the casting feature or gain it later, you may exchange this benefit to instead gain 1 bonus magic talent of your choice.
- Martial Spheres Apprentice: You gain a bonus martial talent. If you don’t possess it already, you gain the ability to achieve martial focus.
- Natural Weapon Fighting: When you attack using only natural weapons (bites, claws, slams, etc.), you score a critical hit on a roll of a 19 or 20.
- Protection: When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.
- Two-Weapon Fighting: When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.
Spell Combat
Beginning at 2nd level, whenever you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can expend your martial focus to make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
At 7th level, you no longer need to expend your martial focus to use spell combat.
At 15th level, you may use spell combat when using a spell that costs 1 spell point.
Mageknight Path
At 3rd level, you can choose a path that reflects how you mix magical and martial power. This path grants you Path talents and a path power at 3rd level, as well as additional powers at 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Stalwart
At 11th level, you may expend your martial focus to change the die result of any saving throw (not just Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws) to a 10, and may do so after the saving throw was rolled.
Spell Critical
At 20th level, whenever you deal damage with a critical hit with a weapon, natural attack, or unarmed strike, you can cast a spell that requires an action as a bonus action.
Starting Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background and traditions. You must be proficient with the chosen class equipment to select it as part of your starting equipment:
- (a) five javelins or (b) any simple melee weapon
- (a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial weapons
- (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
- (a) studded leather armor, or (b) scale mail.
Spellcasting
You can combine spheres and talents to create magical effects. You gain a Casting Tradition. Additionally, if this is your starting class (Character level 1), you may also gain a Martial Tradition.
Casting Tradition
Select a Casting Tradition, or use one you already possess.
Martial Tradition - Starting Class Only
If eligible, select a Martial Tradition.
Spell Pool
You gain a small reservoir of energy you can call on to create truly wondrous effects, called a spell pool. This pool contains a number of spell points equal to your key ability modifier (minimum: 1). You gain additional spell points equal to half your mageknight level (rounded down). This pool replenishes once per day after a long rest. (Note: if multiclassing, spell points from your key ability modifier are only gained once.)
Blended Tradition
You gain a Martial Talent at every odd level. Any time you would gain a Magic Talent from this class, you may instead choose a martial talent.
Martial Focus
Mageknights can achieve martial focus (even if they do not possess a martial tradition or martial talents). They gain their martial focus after a minute of rest, or by taking the Dodge action. A mageknight cannot have more than one martial focus and cannot by any means regain focus more than once per round.
When a mageknight has martial focus, they can expend their focus before making any single Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw to treat the die as if it had rolled a 10. They can also expend their martial focus to gain the benefit of certain martial talents and class features, as described in their entry on the Martial Article, while other talents and abilities may require you to currently have martial focus.
Once a mageknight has gained martial focus, the mageknight remains focused until they expend their focus, become unconscious, or go to sleep (or enter a meditative trance).
Subclass Options
Armorist
An armorist is a mageknight that specializes in creating and enhancing equipment, summoning the exact tool needed to meet the situation at hand.
Path Talents
At 3rd, 7th, 15th, 18th, and 20th levels, you gain a bonus magic talent from either the Creation or Enhancement spheres.
Quick Enhancements
At 3rd level, you can enhance your own worn armor or wielded weapons through the Enhancement sphere as a bonus action.
Create Equipment
At 3rd level, as a bonus action you can create a weapon, suit of armor, or shield you are proficient with directly in your hand or on your body for 1 minute (no concentration), even if you do not have the talents normally required to do so. This item is non-magical and made from common materials, and if a ranged weapon, appears with 20 pieces of ammunition. This equipment disappears at the end of your turn if not in your hand or on your body. This equipment counts as being created with the Creation sphere for all purposes.
Enhanced Creations
Beginning at 6th level, when you create an object through the Creation sphere, you can enhance it with the Enhancement sphere as part of the same action. You can maintain both effects at the same time via concentration, but must spend spell points on and for each effect individually.
Rigorous Creations
At 10th level, when you create or enhance armor, a shield, or a weapon that you are wearing or wielding, you cannot lose concentration on that effect due to taking damage. Other sphere effects that are maintained through concentration as part of the same action as your create or enhance ability can still be broken as a result of taking damage.
Potent Enhancement
Beginning at 14th level, whenever you enhance armor you are wearing or a shield or weapon you are wielding (including equipment created with quick creations), that weapon gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls, or that suit of armor or shield grants an extra +1 to armor class. This has no effect on a magic weapon that already has a bonus to attack and damage rolls, or magic armor and shields that already have a bonus to armor class.
Unbreaking Creations
Beginning at 18th level, you have advantage on all concentration checks made with Creation or Enhancement sphere effects.
Spellblade Path
A spellblade focuses on channeling their power through their weapons to damage their foes.
Path Talents
At 3rd, 7th, 15th, 18th, and 20th levels, you gain a bonus magic talent from the Protection or Destruction spheres.
Danger Sense
At 3rd level, you gain an uncanny sense of when things nearby aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger. You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and spells. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.
Draw Power
Beginning at 6th level, when you reduce a target to 0 hit points with a weapon attack or deal damage to a creature with a critical hit, you gain 1 temporary spell point that disappears at the end of your next turn. The creature must have a CR of at least half your character level (rounded down).
Eldritch Strike
At 10th 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 magic sphere effect you cast before the end of your next turn. You cannot use eldritch strike on magic sphere effects channelled through weapon attacks with the Striking (metasphere) talent.
Broadcast Blade
Beginning at 14th level, you can spend 1 spell point when making a weapon attack to twist space, affecting all enemy targets within 5 ft. of the target of your attack. You may roll separately for each target.
Resist Magic
At 18th level, you have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Psionicist Path
Through the combined power of using mind magic to read an opponent’s actions and telekinesis to push their own movements to impossible speeds, psionicists are a powerful force on any battlefield.
Path Talents
At 3rd, 7th, 15th, 18th, and 20th levels, you gain a bonus magic talent from either the Mind or Telekinesis spheres.
Psychic Buffer
Starting at 3rd level, your subtle ESP and telekinetically-enhanced movement makes you much harder to kill. After a long rest, you gain a psychic buffer. This buffer has hit points equal to twice your mageknight level + your key ability modifier, which last until your next long rest. Whenever you take damage, the buffer takes the damage instead. If this damage reduces the buffer to 0 hit points, you take any remaining damage.
Whenever you spend spell points in the Mind or Telekinetics spheres, the buffer regains hit points equal to four times the number of spell points spent.
Pushed Movement
Starting at 6th level, you can use telekinesis to aid in your body’s natural movement. Your jump distance is doubled, and you can spend a spell point to use the dodge, dash, or disengage action as a bonus action.
Evasion
Beginning at 10th level, you can nimbly dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as a red dragon’s fiery breath or an Ice Storm spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.
Potent Psionic Buffer
At 14th level, you may use your bonus action and expend 1 spell point to replenish your psychic buffer up to its maximum hit points.
Two Minds
At 18th level, you can concentrate on up to two different effects at the same time.
Shapeshifter Path
Shapeshifters use magic to assume the best form for any given situation, then tear their enemies to shreds with bites, claws, or tentacles.
Path Talents
At 3rd, 7th, 15th, 18th, and 20th levels, you gain a bonus magic talent from the Alteration or Life spheres.
Quick Transformation
At 3rd level, you can place a shapeshift, on yourself only, as a bonus action.
Steal Language
Starting at 6th level, you cannot only change your body, but also your mind. You can touch a creature as an action, gaining the ability to speak and understand one language that creature speaks until you complete a long rest. This can work on beasts and other creatures that don’t have a language, but only allows communication with that particular type of creature (eagle, dog, wolf, etc.). You can only have one language acquired at a time in this manner; acquiring a second language dismisses the first.
Bestial Trait
At 10th level, choose one trait you can bestow with your shapeshift that doesn’t cost a spell point to use. You gain this trait permanently, even in your unaltered form, and it does not count against your trait total during any shapeshifts. You can suppress or re-manifest this trait once per round with no action.
Extended Transformation
At 14th level, your control over Alteration magic makes your transformations unusually powerful. The duration of your shapeshift when placed on yourself becomes concentration for up to 1 hour. You also gain a second bestial trait, as described above.
Second Skin
At 18th level, you become a master of Alteration magic. Whenever you change your own form with shapeshift, it is no longer considered a magical effect. This means it cannot be dispelled or countered, and can be used within an antimagic field. Changes to yourself have a duration of concentration for up to forever. Gain a third permanent trait.
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | Talents | Spell Points |
|---|
| 1st | +2 | Spherecasting, Blended Training, Martial Focus | 1 | 0 |
| 2nd | +2 | Fighting Style, Spell Combat 1 | 1 |
| 3rd | +2 | Mageknight Path, Path Talent | 2 | 1 |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 2 | 2 |
| 5th | +3 | Extra Attack | 3 | 2 |
| 6th | +3 | Mageknight Path feature | 3 | 3 |
| 7th | +3 | Spell Combat, Path Talent | 4 | 3 |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 4 |
| 9th | +4 | - | 5 | 4 |
| 10th | +4 | Mageknight Path feature | 5 | 5 |
| 11th | +4 | Stalwart | 6 | 5 |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 6 | 6 |
| 13th | +5 | - | 7 | 6 |
| 14th | +5 | Mageknight Path feature | 7 | 7 |
| 15th | +5 | Path Talent, Spell Combat | 8 | 7 |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 8 | 8 |
| 17th | +6 | - | 9 | 8 |
| 18th | +6 | Mageknight Path feature, Path Talent | 9 | 9 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement 10 | 9 |
| 20th | +6 | Path Talent, Spell Critical | 10 | 10 |
