UNLEASH YOUR ELDRITCH MIGHT!
NEW OPTIONS FOR ELDRITCH KNIGHTS AND OTHER SPELLCASTING WARRIORS – NEW FEATS, SPELLS, MAGIC ITEMS, WEAPON ABILITIES AND MORE!
Eldritch Knights Unleashed rejuvenates the eldritch knight prestige class by addressing the sharp shortage of 1st-party supporting material released for the class during Pathfinder’s lifespan. This dedicated game supplement contains nearly 30 original combat and synergy feats and 20 original spells to promote new kinds of active offensive and defensive synergies between the eldritch knight’s melee combat and spellcasting! Also included are six new magic items, alternate racial traits for each of the five core races, and more!
The eldritch knight is an iconic fantasy archetype– the versatile spellcasting warrior capable of crippling foes with flashing spellfire from behind the ranks one moment, only to wade unflinchingly into the heart of battle and cut them down with ensorcelled blades the next. The eldritch knight prestige class was one of the few options for realizing the arcane warrior character concept when the Pathfinder Core Rule Book was released in 2009 and remains one of Pathfinder's most versatile prestige classes, allowing unique multiclass builds merging different martial and arcane backgrounds to represent different kinds of martial spellcasters. However, the eldritch knight went entirely unsupported with new material for almost all of Pathfinder’s lifespan. While extremely versatile in build potential, the eldritch knight critically lacks good synergy between its martial and arcane halves due to the absence of supporting character and class options. Accordingly, in gameplay, the eldritch knight feels outdated, under-realized, and eclipsed by newer options, and struggles both to battle effectively alongside his full-martial brethren and use magic alongside dedicated spellcasters.
Despite these issues and shortcomings, the eldritch knight remains a very interesting and distinctive character option due to the appeal of merging different martial and arcane class backgrounds and using a full-spellcaster’s spell list to support a magical-melee combat focused playstyle. New supporting material would encourage a variety of intriguing new builds and character concepts worthy of the name “eldritch knight.”
Eldritch Knights Unleashed presents nearly 30 total new feats to empower players to build eldritch knights who really can “wade into battle alongside fighters, barbarians, and other martial classes” through merging martial and spellcasting might in new ways, including Eldritch Strike, which allows users to expend spells to enhance melee weapon attack and damage rolls, and Arcane Armor Supremacy which allows users to cast arcane spells in the heaviest armor (and to extend this duration beyond one round and without a swift action through expending spell power). Eldritch Wrath allows them to attack an enemy within reach as a swift action after an enemy takes damage or fails a saving through against his spells, and Eldritch Ward empowers his simple shield spell with scaling improvements and allows him to cast it as a swift action. Opportune Spellcasting allows spellcasters to punish enemies with lower-level touch attack spells when they provoke attacks of opportunity, and the Eldritch Warcasting feat chain allows you to invoke weaker versions of support spells as a swift action in the fray of battle! Eight Eldritch Synergy feats allow you to get more out of your martial and spellcasting origins, including Eldritch Witchcraft to boost the DC of your witch hexes, or Eldritch Crusader to combine your paladin and eldritch knight levels to calculate your Smite Evil damage!
In addition, 20 new spells are introduced that empower melee combat and channel potent magical effects through successful melee attacks across multiple spell lists (including the bard, witch, wizard, inquisitor, occultist, psychic, and magus). New spells include dispelling strikes to empower your melee weapon attacks with dispel magic effects, arcane barrage to assault enemies at range with your melee attacks, several eldritch augmentation spells to magically augment combat expertise, combat maneuvers, and power attack, and repulsion armor to repel assailants after they strike you in combat.
Six new magic items are introduced, including gloves of spell conductivity and bracers of precise blasting to improve melee and ranged touch attack rolls with spells, and the manuscript of martial magistery, which allows spellcasters to expend spell power to gain temporary access to a single combat feat! Two new magic weapon qualities favored by spellcasting warriors are introduced- the spellsurging and ward-shattering properties which enhance spell delivery through a weapon and especially target foes with spell resistance. Finally, new alternate racial traits are offered for each of the five core races that empower their own unique approaches to arcane combat.
PATHFINDER UNLEASHED by Arcanists of Albany is a series of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game supplements offering expanded character and class options intended to enrich gameplay for GMs and players alike by helping them realize deeper, different, and new character concepts for all characters in their worlds!
