Arcane Power: E’s Top Five Fun Ways To Roleplay a Swordmage
Written by e
April 22, 2009
8 Comments
Today’s peek into the roleplaying opportunities found in Arcane Power is the Swordmage class.
This is part of a weeklong series dedicated to the release of the newest book in the Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition collection. Don’t forget to check the previous two posts on the Bard and Sorcerer.
What kind of badassery can we expect with the new Swordmage powers? (Is badassery even a word?) (Is it a word now that I’ve used it?) Continue on, geek friends…
#1 New Build: Ensnaring Swordmage
“The ensnaring swordmage focuses on battlefield control and on immobilizing, slowing ,and knocking prone enemies. The build is also associated with a new aegis, the aegis of ensnarement, which allows you to teleport a marked enemy to you.”
Eyron and Lyn were twin brothers raised in a family that was known for battlefield prowess. While Eyron took the traditional route and become a seasoned warlord, Lyn was drawn to magic and became an ensnaring swordmage. Their party knows that every day is a crapshoot. Either the brothers will cooperate and use their powers to create the ultimate battlefield advantage, or they will be fighting and trying to one-up each other, making the encounter messy and dangerous.
#2 Level 3 Encounter Spell: Dimensional Vortex
“Lashing out with your sword, you warp space, causing your foe to appear a short distance away and unleash his attack elsewhere.”
Rinka the gnome swordmage is always looking for a way to get a laugh at the expense of her enemies. This move is her absolute favorite because she can shout out insults after the enemy has attacked a different target.
“Why are you hitting that pole? WHAT DID IT DO TO YOU, MR. GOBLIN?”
#3 Level 6 Utility Spell: Unicorn’s Touch
“Your blade briefly adopts the appearance of a unicorn horn, sending out a focused pulse of curative energy.”
Tasha always wanted to be a cleric, but her parents thought of healing as a lesser form of magic. In secret, Tasha studied with local healers. She can bandage wounds faster than any battlefield medic and with this handy spell, can feel like she’s taking care of her fellow adventurers.
#4 Level 29 Daily Spell: Mirrorblade Army
“From your image reflected in your blade, you conjure an army of duplicates to help assult your foes anywhere on the battlefield.”
Grurch has always wanted minions. In fact, since his Goliath stature puts him at a good 2 feet taller than most of his party, he refers to them as his minions. (This annoys his group to no end, especially when he starts trying to boss them around.) Imagine his glee at learning to cast Mirrorblade Army! Now he can not only have minions, but they’re all just as big and awesome as he is!
#5 Sword of Assault Attack 11: Spell Strike
“Your magic infuses a normal weapon attack with arcane power that might scorch, freeze, rot, poison, shock, or blast your foe.”
Ever since Quink was little, he wanted to be able to cast Stinking Cloud. In fact, he was always TRYING to cast it from his own buttocks but was upset that it never quite had as potent an effect as he desired. But now, he had Spell Strike, or as he liked to call it, STINK STRIKE, and he was able to unleash the nastiness of a Stinking Cloud through his sword. Oh, joy of joys!
Stay Tuned…
Tomorrow we take a look at the Warlock! Have you bought your copy of Arcane Power yet?
E. Foley is a geek girl extraordinaire. She writes amazing online dating profiles for geeks and non-geeks, helping clients all over the world find love. Her writing can be found at Dating Sites Reviews, Examiner.com, and elsewhere as a ghostwriter. By day, she is the Copywriter at ThinkGeek. She lives in Maryland with DaveTheGame and her adorable cats, Mr. Peanut and Don Juan. (Email e, or follow @geeksdreamgirl on Twitter.)
* sigh *
The more I read of this the more I am glad I ended my roleplaying days with 2nd Edition.
Dimensional Vortex! Obviously Dimension Door doesn’t sound quite Generation Y enough and Teleport doesn’t… hang on, why didn’t they just use Teleport? Perfectly capable spell. No it has to be Adjective Nou… oops, I mean DIMENSIONAL VORTEX!!11!11!!
Goliath stature? What was wrong with just plain ‘Large’? Ogres were large. Noooo anything taller than a human has to be GOLIAAAAAATHHH!!!!!
“Your magic infuses a normal weapon attack with arcane power…” If Quink can’t cast Stinking Cloud in the first place how can he imbue the sword with it? If he can cast Stinking Cloud what’s the point of the sword?
It all sounds a bit too World of Warcraft to me. Trying too hard to sound cool. Ah well, I’ll guess i’ll go back to Baldur’s Gate now. I have a date with Sarevok.
@IronM@sk -
If we thought like that, we never would have gotten Dimension Door. We would have just stuck with the original Teleport.
That said, I think you’re missing a few things specific to these powers:
- Dimensional Vortex has a different effect than Dimension Door or Teleport. As such, it needs a different name. Teleport still exists.
- Goliath stature is referencing a race from 3e/4e. Saying Goliath Stature is akin to saying Ogre Stature or Giant Stature. It’s a race, not a description.
- As for the “arcane power”/stinking cloud argument, well, that’s the entire point of the Swordmage. An arcane magic-user who channels his power through his sword. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, flavour-wise, that’s for sure.
I hope that gives you a bit of perspective, at least on the first two.
Graham´s last blog post..32 hours of D&D gaming party!
Ah fair enough Graham. I must admit the only real new D&D stuff I read in depth were the “Countdown to 3E” articles in Dragon Magazine all those years ago and I just assumed that they changed the size category name for large to goliath as they changed proficiencies and skills to feats etc etc.
I have to admit reading those countdown articles totally turned me off D&D for good (never bought Dragon again after that). I should actually read through some of the 3E & 4E books I have inadvertantly downloaded so as to at least be on the same page as you guys terminology-wise.
No worries, man. I know people who swear by 1e, 2e, 3e, and 4e, and I’m friends with them all. We have more similarities than differences. Less changed between 2e and 3e than you might have thought.
As it stands, though, if you ever find yourself wondering about something like this, feel free to just ask. There’s no such thing as a stupid question. There is only not asking the question.
So yeah, feel free to drop e, here, or me (on my site, click the link in my name) a comment or email. We’re always happy to answer questions.
Graham´s last blog post..32 hours of D&D gaming party!
*hugz Graham* Graham is my D&D Customer Service Department. He’s so good.
Heh. If I managed to convince Donny that 4e isn’t as awful as he thought (to the point where it’s his main game now), I can do anything!
Kidding. Though I do have faith in my ability to get people to back down from the “hate it without ever reading it” stance and be civil to each other.
Graham´s last blog post..32 hours of D&D gaming party!
You forgot one of the coolest things about the swordmage. Swordmages let you be a melee type defender without the stats you would normally want for that role. That means you can pick some cool races without sacrificing effectiveness.
I loved playing my gnome swordmage. Three and a half feet tall and standing in front of the party taking the hits. One of my favorite moments in 4e so far was my little gnome swordmage intimidating a dragon into surrender
Nicholas´s last blog post..Doesn’t the stew look awesome? (and we all know it tastes great)