Today’s development update looks at the creation of the vanguard, goals in its design, and where the class is heading for Paths of Magic!
The Vanguard, by Danielle Sands
The vanguard went through quite a few design changes in the original development of Path of Iron. Originally, the only requirement for the class was to be the book’s primary “metal mage”: a spellcaster that would get a big chunk of (if not most of) the new spells in the book. As such, the first draft of what would become the vanguard was called the “Metallurgist” and focused exclusively around magical object manipulation.
The metallurgist was still a 0-6 spell caster, and had the ability to imbue contingent spells on its equipment, which was inspired partially by the 3.5e artificer’s ability to infuse spells onto equipment. It also had an “empower” feature which worked like a sort of hybrid between an inquisitor’s judgement and a magus’s arcane pool. Empower could enhance gear like arcane pool with basic +1 to +5 bonuses, but also had a few more thematic enhancement abilities like inquisitor judgements instead of just adding armor/weapon properties. For example, one enhancement would grant a suit of armor a barrier that granted its wearer temporary hit points, while another would let you telekinetically threaten with your weapon from a different location. Some of these ideas got retooled into the vanguard’s augmentation/resonance mechanic, but not many. This version of the class was eventually scrapped due to lacking a real identity: in a lot of ways it felt more like a more restricted magus or warpriest.
The second design was the first to the use the “vanguard” name, and was where I first tested out the idea of having a construct-based companion. In this version, the companion was called a “servitor” and functioned more like a mindless golem servant. The class also got separate inventions every two levels, which could be gadgets, tools, or upgrades to his equipment or servitor (writing this out, it’s kinda funny how close this is to the new Inventor class coming up in Pathfinder 2nd Edition).
Despite overall liking the way this class felt and played…it was almost entirely scrapped, save for the construct companion and a few ribbon features (like mending touch, which became the default ability for construct companions, and the Intuitive Construction ability). The reason? It didn’t have spellcasting!
I often have this problem when iterating on class designs, which I usually call “letting the design get away from you”. I go in with a goal in mind (i.e. “I need a class that uses metal magic”) and end up getting some new idea that sounds pretty good. Then I iterate on that one, and the next one, until eventually you end up with some newfangled class that completely misses the original goal you set out to do. This happened…at least three times when writing the Path books (with the elementer, vanguard, and nightblade, for sure).
So it was back to the drawing board. I really liked the idea of the construct companion from the last version and kept it; it gave the class a core mechanic to centralize around and it had a stronger identity than the metallurgist did. The imbue ability from the metallurgist design was also brought over. And while that was all good, it still didn’t really have a role in a party. Two mid-BAB combatants meant it would at least be passable at combat (and when combined with imbue would give it pretty good action economy), but every class in Pathfinder is at least decent at combat. What was the class’s role in combat? Damage? Defense?
I decided that combat support was a good way to take the vanguard. Being a “metal mage” meant it got nearly all of the spells that enhanced equipment: magic weapon, magic vestment, keen edge, etc…most of which are combat buffs. Object-based magic also means it could easily get a sub-set of abilities for crafting, and would surely get spells like crafter’s fortune and fabricate. So I leaned into that with the upgrade mechanics to the construct companion, creating the dual system of augmentation and resonance. The augment would give a baseline ability to the construct, with the resonance (in most cases) providing buffs to the team. The construct companion was also given a few distinct build options (combat, magic, and scouting) that the vanguard could build into to give some more diversity in augments.
With that, the class found a clear spot in a supporting role (maybe not a primary healer, but similar to a combat-focused bard) with good action economy, a unique companion, and a thematic spot as the featured spellcaster of Path of Iron.
Now, where does the vanguard go in Paths of Magic? It’s already a pretty solid support class with a good number of options.
In fact…it’s a bit too good.
The vanguard is actually getting a few targeted nerfs. Namely, in the capabilities of the construct companion, but it’s also getting a key early game buff.
First, the companion’s base stat total is being reduced slightly (it’s 14 in one score is now a 13). More importantly, base forms now only have the two primary scores (STR/DEX for combat, DEX/CHA for eldritch, and DEX/INT for scouting); the “secondary” score that previously got a +4 over the companion’s levels has been removed.
Augments have now been given prerequisites that broadly correlate to the three companion forms, much like how the magic augments had a Charisma requirement in Path of Iron. Combat-focused augments now have Strength requirements, while scouting-focused augments have an Intelligence requirement. Each companion’s stats are arranged in such a away that, by taking the Ability Augmentation augment, they can reach 14 in one of these scores (i.e. a Scouting companion that improves their Strength can get the first few combat-focused augments) but it won’t be as much of a free-for-all as previous and requires purposeful investment. Vanguards can also no longer use resonances while a companion is shut down (previously they could, but it used 2 daily uses), so it is crucial for vanguards to keep their companions functioning.
The last major nerf is a big change to the vanguard tactics class feature. Previously, this granted the companion ALL teamwork feats the vanguard has (similar to a hunter), which when combined with its good stats and defenses made it too good at too many fronts. It’s been renamed to “shared tactics”, and now simply lets a construct companion skip any prerequisites for teamwork feats that the vanguard has. This still lets them go for teamwork strategies with the vanguard, but no longer grants them a free six feats when built for it. Keep in mind the vanguard has pretty early access to the enable function spell which can grant “any one feat a construct qualifies for”, so you can still build a teamwork-focused beast, it just requires more work.
However, as a medium construct, the companion now also gets +20 hit points at level 1, which should make up a bit for the fact that healing magic doesn’t work on constructs. Repairing constructs is now a bit faster baseline, and vanguards now have a way to spend a bit of time fixing the construct to restore hit points for free, without having to rely solely on spells or mending touch. The companion’s innate slam attack is now two separate slams (with slightly lower damage, since it no longer gets 1.5x strength).
The vanguard himself is not getting many changes, aside from the aforementioned changed to vanguard tactics. His spell list is, of course, expanding quite a bit to give it a bit more flexibility. Some key additions like remove fear and break enchantment help improve its role as support, and it’s been given a few more utility spells like comprehend languages, locate creature, and clairaudience/clairvoyance to help flesh out the scouting role.
It also is getting two new archetypes. The constructor is the “Pack Master” for the vanguard, allowing him to control multiple companions instead of just one. The “siege commander” is a big overhaul of the class, replacing the construct companion with a deployable turret and granting gunslinger (or bolt ace!) deeds.
As usual, we end the post with some previews of upcoming content. In this case, here are a few of the new augmentations you’ll have available to customize your construct companion.
Until next time!
COMBAT ANALYSIS (SU)
Prerequisites: Level 7, Intelligence 14
Effect: The construct companion’s vision is enhanced via divination magic to better assess opponents. The companion gains a competence bonus on Knowledge checks to identify a creature equal to 1 + half its Hit Dice and can make such checks untrained.
Resonance: The construct fully divines the weaknesses of a creature within 60 feet of it that it can see. If the construct previously failed to identify (or has not yet identified) that creature with a Knowledge check, it makes one immediately to identify the creature. If it identifies the target (or already had identified it previously), the construct learns the target’s current Hit Points, its lowest saving throw, what damage type bypasses its damage reduction (if any), and any vulernabilities it has (including general vulnerabilties to damage types or specific vulnerabilities, such as a wight’s weakness to raise dead). The resonance lasts only as long as it takes to make the Knowledge check, but any learned information is retained afterwards.
POWERFUL CONSTRUCTION (EX)
Prerequisites: Strength 10
Effect: The companion has a heavy frame, letting it carry and lift more. Its carrying capacity is doubled (including how much it can lift, drag, or carry). The companion’s increased bulk also grants it a +1 bonus to its CMB and CMD. This bonus increases by +1 at 7th, 13th, and 19th levels.
Resonance: The companion’s build grows massively in scale. This causes the companion to grow one size category (as enlarge person, but affecting a construct). This resonance lasts for 1 minute per vanguard level.