Undrave
Legend
Is it really a fighter though? It really is just a fighter in the sense of ‘one who fights with a martial weapon’. It’s not like an Eldritch Knight that can shoot a cantrip with one hand and on the next turn swing his sword (which is the WORST way to make a Gish, IMO), the Swordmage does both at the same time and creates unique effect using its unique powers. It defends in a way that’s different from the close and personal style of the Fighter and uses magical effects to improve it. They don’t even use heavy armor.It's definitely a unique fusion... but what's it a fusion of?
Fighter + Wizard. Which is the core thesis is that we tend to make "Fighter does Magic".
I think the Warden is a great Barbarian Gish, where the 'Rages' were basically magical transformations. In this case it's more of a Barbarian/Druid, due to channelling Primal Spirits, than Barbarian/Wizard but it's precisely why it works so well.I think I might softly argue the Rogue/Caster has its own archetypal niche; there were several PrCs that touched on the concept in 3e, and even a base class (the Spellthief).
Barbarian/Caster has historically been challenging since the initial concept of the class was not only non-magic but anti-magic, and then the class was barely extant in 2e. Even in 5e, barbarian has generally been viewed as in opposition to casters, which is why rage doesn't allow for spellcasting or concentration effects. I've seen a few third party attempts over the years as the "Rage Mage" concept, and PF even had it as a base class (the barbarian/sorcerer hybrid bloodrager), but it never seems to get a lot of traction, probably due to the archetype dissonance caused by barbarian's initial concept.
Yes! Exactly!I think that's actually the point and why it as good at being a gish.
When I say 'Gish', I mean a swordsman with a fantastical and magical sword style, not a wizard with a sword.
Spell in D&D are a very specific thing that enforce a very specific fantasy for the spellcaster. By removing the idea of the gish using spells and instead granting them cool magisword strikes, we achieve a better philosophy and design for the gish.
Multiclassing just means you use a sword with one hand and a spell with the other, it’s not a real Gish that combines them together.Once again, I urge you to multiclass.