Arcane Weapon Master (3.5e Prestige Class)

Arcane Weapon Master

“	With clear mind and spear in hand, I have nothing to fear.	”
—Ettienne Hiana, elf Arcane Spear Master, Monologues of the Company of Nine

The Arcane Weapon Master is a warrior and a spellcaster, enchanting himself and his weapon then facing his enemies directly in battle. Most of his spells directly affect only a touched item or its bearer, but he is able to cast them all even while wearing full armor and bearing a shield.

Becoming an Arcane Weapon Master

Oftentimes, one trained only in the ways of battle will see this 'magic' stuff that their allies wield and become envious of some of the skills that such people demonstrate. These people are often fighters or barbarians, and become Arcane Weapon Masters for a taste of magic without sacrificing their ability to engage opponents in toe-to-toe battle. Others are sorcerers, bards, or other spellcasters, who already possess magical power but wish to take up steel and clad themselves in armor without sacrificing their hard-learned powers. As spellcasters, Arcane Weapon Masters must generally have a high intelligence score; casting spells as they do is difficult to learn and is not intuitive, requiring a sharp mind to understand. As warriors, Arcane Weapon Masters are usually seen with great strength and constitution. Some, however, are ranged fighters, and instead focus on dexterity. And finally, some also develop as sorcerers or bards and as such also tend to have high charisma.

Entry Requirements

Base Attack Bonus:	+5.
Skills:	Spellcraft 2.
Feats:	Weapon Focus.

Table: The Arcane Weapon Master

Hit Die: d10

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells Per Day
		Fort	Ref	Will		0	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Arcane Touch, Arcane Accuracy (1:1), Weapon Touch	1	1
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	Arcane Damage (1:1)	2	2
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Arcane Defense (1:1)	3	3
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Arcane Resistance (1:1)	4	3	1
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	Specializable, Arcane Longevity (2 rounds)	4	3	2
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+2	Fighter Bonus Feat	4	4	3
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+2	Arcane Accuracy (2:1)	4	4	3	1
8th	+8/+3	+6	+2	+2	Arcane Damage (2:1)	4	4	3	2
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+3	Arcane Defense (2:1)	4	4	4	3
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+3	Arcane Resistance (2:1)	4	4	4	3	1
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+3	Fighter Bonus Feat	4	4	4	3	2
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+4	Arcane Longevity (3 rounds)	4	4	4	4	3
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+4	+4	Arcane Accuracy (3:1)	4	4	4	4	3	1
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+4	+4	Arcane Damage (3:1)	4	4	4	4	4	2
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+5	+5	Arcane Defense (3:1)	4	4	4	4	4	3
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+5	Arcane Resistance (3:1)	4	4	4	4	4	3	1
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+5	Fighter Bonus Feat	4	4	4	4	4	4	2
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+6	Arcane Longevity (4 rounds)	4	4	4	4	4	4	3
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+6	Arcane Rollover (1:2)	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	1
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+6	Arcane Rollover (1:1)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	2
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str).

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An Arcane Weapon Master is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium and light) and all shields except for tower shields.

Arcane Touch (Su): Arcane Touch: Any arcane spells that the Arcane Weapon Master can cast spontaneously that are also on the Arcane Weapon Master spell list ignore arcane spell failure stemming from wearing armor, if they are cast following the restrictions of the Arcane Weapon Master version of that spell. The Arcane Weapon Master's caster level is equal to the sum of the level of his highest other class with spontaneous casting plus his Arcane Weapon Master level.

Spells: To cast a spell, an Arcane Weapon Master must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. His base spell allotment is given below. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score. An Arcane Weapon Master can never exchange one known spell for another as a sorcerer can. Like a sorcerer, and unlike a wizard or cleric, an Arcane Weapon Master need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his spells per day for that spell level. He does not have to decide ahead of time which spells he’ll cast. His spells come from the Arcane Weapon Master Spell List, below, which are also spells from the wizard/sorcerer list with specific modifications.

Arcane Accuracy (Sp): An Arcane Weapon Master's magic is at times completely indistinguishable from his skill with weapons. He can, as a free action, exhaust a number of spell slots equal to his class level, gaining the sum of the spell levels expended as an insight attack bonus for the next round. Note that 0-level spells add 1/2 a point each, and can only be spent two at once for this purpose. At 7th level, he gains twice the sum of his expended spell levels as his attack bonus, and at 13th level he gains thrice that number. Spell slots expended in this manner cannot be used for any purpose, including casting spells, Arcane Damage, Arcane Defense, or Arcane Resistance. At level 5, this lasts for two rounds; at level 12 it lasts for three rounds; and at level 18, it lasts for four rounds. The Arcane Weapon Master is only able to do this when wielding a weapon with which he has Weapon Focus.

Weapon Touch (Sp): An Arcane Weapon Master can deliver any touch attack (excepting grapple attempts and other obvious effects) with his weapon, including during an attack or full attack action.

Arcane Damage (Sp): An Arcane Weapon Master's magic is at times completely indistinguishable from his skill with weapons. At level 2 he can, as a free action, exhaust a number of spell slots equal to his class level, gaining the sum of the spell levels expended as an insight damage bonus for the next round. Note that 0-level spells add 1/2 a point each, and can only be spent two at once for this purpose. At 8th level, he gains twice the sum of his expended spell levels as his attack bonus, and at 14th level he gains thrice that number. Spell slots expended in this manner cannot be used for any purpose, including casting spells, Arcane Accuracy, Arcane Defense, or Arcane Resistance. At level 5, this lasts for two rounds; at level 12 it lasts for three rounds; and at level 18, it lasts for four rounds. The Arcane Weapon Master is only able to do this when wielding a weapon with which he has Weapon Focus.

Arcane Defense (Sp): An Arcane Weapon Master's magic is at times completely indistinguishable from his skill with weapons. At level 3 he can, as a free action, exhaust a number of spell slots equal to his class level, gaining the sum of the spell levels expended as an insight AC bonus for the next round. Note that 0-level spells add 1/2 a point each, and can only be spent two at once for this purpose. At 9th level, he gains twice the sum of his expended spell levels as his attack bonus, and at 15th level he gains thrice that number. Spell slots expended in this manner cannot be used for any purpose, including casting spells, Arcane Damage, Arcane Accuracy, or Arcane Resistance. At level 5, this lasts for two rounds; at level 12 it lasts for three rounds; and at level 18, it lasts for four rounds. The Arcane Weapon Master is only able to do this when wielding a weapon with which he has Weapon Focus.

Arcane Resistance (Sp): An Arcane Weapon Master's magic is at times completely indistinguishable from his skill with weapons. He can, as a free action, exhaust a number of spell slots equal to his class level, gaining the sum of the spell levels expended as an insight bonus to all of his saving throws for the next round. Note that 0-level spells add 1/2 a point each, and can only be spent two at once for this purpose. At 10th level, he gains twice the sum of his expended spell levels as his attack bonus, and at 16th level he gains thrice that number. Spell slots expended in this manner cannot be used for any purpose, including casting spells, Arcane Damage, Arcane Defense, or Arcane Accuracy. At level 5, this lasts for two rounds; at level 12 it lasts for three rounds; and at level 18, it lasts for four rounds. The Arcane Weapon Master is only able to do this when wielding a weapon with which he has Weapon Focus.

Arcane Longevity (Sp): An experienced Arcane Weapon Master's becomes able to maintain his powers upon his weapon for a longer period of time. At level 5, his Arcane Accuracy, Arcane Damage, Arcane Defense, and Arcane Resistance all last for two rounds instead of one. At level 12, they all last for three rounds. At level 18, they all last for four.

Arcane Rollover (Sp): As an Arcane Weapon Master reaches the apex of experience, his power becomes so great that it takes longer to completely vanish. At level 19, when an Arcane Weapon Master renews his spells, half of the spell levels that he did not spend on the previous day remain available to him, ONLY for the purposes of Arcane Accuracy, Arcane Damage, Arcane Defense, and Arcane Resistance (i.e. he cannot use them to cast spells). This does not build upon itself - if those bonus spell levels are still present the next time that the Arcane Weapon Master is renewing his spells, they are lost. At level 20, the Arcane Weapon Master maintains all of the spell levels that he did not use, not simply half of them.

Specializable: After honing his skills with his chosen weapon and reaching 5th level, an Arcane Weapon Master becomes capable of gaining Weapon Specialization and Epic Weapon Specialization if he meets all requirements other than class.

Fighter Bonus Feat: At levels 6, 11, and 17, an Arcane Weapon Master may take a bonus feat from the list of Fighter Bonus Feats.

Arcane Weapon Master Spell List

0—Light, Mending, Mage Hand**, Arcane Mark.

1st—Identify, True Strike***, Magic Weapon, Magic Aura, Erase*.

2nd—Obscure Object, Locate Object**, Shatter*, Misdirection, Phantom Trap.

3rd—Dispel Magic*, Nondetection, Keen Edge, Greater Magic Weapon, Shrink Item.

4th—Dimensional Anchor*, Remove Curse, Minor Creation, Bestow Curse.

5th—Break Enchantment*, Major Creation, Fabricate, Permanency**,

Telekinesis**, Transmute Rock to Mud, Transmute Mud to Rock.

6th—Greater Dispel Magic*, Analyze Dweomer*, Legend Lore.

7th—Sequester, Instant Summons**, Teleport Object, Vision.

8th—Dimensional Lock*, Discern Location**, Moment of Prescience, Antipathy**, Polymorph Any Object*.

9th—Mage's Disjunction, Refuge**.

* - As the spell description, except that this spell can only target nonliving objects, and has a range of Touch.

** - As the spell description, except that this spell can only be cast upon an item which bears the Arcane Weapon Master's Arcane Mark.

*** - As the spell description, except that this spell is cast upon a weapon, and confers its effect to whomever wields the weapon. The instant the object is no longer being wielded, including from a successful Disarm attempt or Disintegrate spell, the effect vanishes from that person. If the weapon is wielded by another after the original recipient of the spell no longer uses it before the spell's duration expires, the new wielder receives the benefits of the spell as if it had been cast upon him all along.

Table: Arcane Weapon Master Spells Known

Level	Spells Known
	0	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th
1st	2	1
2nd	3	2
3rd	3	3
4th	4	3	1
5th	4	4	2
6th	4	4	3
7th	4	4	3	1
8th	4	4	4	2
9th	4	4	4	3
10th	4	4	4	3	1
11th	4	4	4	3	2
12th	4	4	4	3	3
13th	4	4	4	3	3	1
14th	4	4	4	3	3	2
15th	4	4	4	3	3	3
16th	4	4	4	3	3	3	1
17th	4	4	4	3	3	3	2
18th	4	4	4	3	3	3	3
19th	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	1
20th	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	2

Playing a Arcane Weapon Master

Combat: An Arcane Weapon Master tends to act similarly to a fighter. He may pause to enchant his weapons during a fight. Additionally, a higher-level Arcane Weapon Master might use his powers to damage the weapons of others.

Advancement: Arcane Weapon Masters often focus their attention on either improving their combat skills or furthering their arcane casting skills with other arcane casting classes or prestige classes.

Resources: There is no organization that binds Arcane Weapon Masters, and generally expect no special quarter from one another.

Arcane Weapon Masters in the World

“	You should stick with your fellow sword-sorcerer. Unless he's a jerk. Then you can just gut him.	”
—Grunthar Hornbellow, Half-orc Arcane Weapon Master

Arcane Weapon Masters are most commonly either adventurers or other warriors who spend much of their time in the company of spellcasters, such as guards to a wizard's stronghold.

NPC Reactions: Arcane Weapon Masters are often seen as a mystery by casters and warriors alike, as neither side can quite understand the skill with which they blend the two styles.

Arcane Weapon Master Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) can research Arcane Weapon Masters to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Knowledge (Arcana)

DC	Result
11	Arcane Weapon Masters blend magic and spellcraft.
16	Arcane Weapon Masters are largely unable to cast spells that do not relate to their weapons.
21	Arcane Weapon Masters do not have to prepare their spells beforehand, but they generally know very few.
26	Arcane Weapon Masters can channel their magic directly into physical prowess.

Arcane Weapon Masters in the Game

Adaptation: Arcane Weapon Masters should fit into most settings with very few changes.

Sample Encounter:

EL whatever:

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