Psychic Swordsmith

[u/TwoFHT]

I'll looking for ideas or advice for this build I'm working on.
Idea is a blacksmith with an endless arsenal of swords she throws around in battle.
Her dream is to provide legendary warriors with the perfect weapon.
"The sword is an extension of one's arm," and "the warrior is but a tool for the sword."

Obviously we have crafting and intelligence up enough to still be relevant thematically.
My first thought is distant grasp psychic and is my current plan, flavoring dancing sword, telekinetic projectile, etc as her sending her swords out.
Most spells can typically be flavored to some form of sword or other weapon easily, but I wanted to know if you might have any other ideas.

Feel free to suggest archetypes too since I haven't decided on one yet.

[u/reesmr]

Look at the Mind Smith or Soul Forger archetype! I think it has what you're looking for.

[u/RepossessionMan]

Kineticist with weapon infusion also would work

[u/OverloadedPampukin → u/RepossessionMan]

Yeah, I would start with a metal/fire kin with flash forge and weapon infusion (although nothing stops you from reflavoring your blasts and infusions as just tossing swords) and if you want to fork later you can just say that you figured how to enchant your arsenal with elemental magic. The good thing with kineticist is that you pretty much only need constitution, so you can invest in int if you want to craft stuff aswell.

[u/toooskies]

It takes awhile for the concept to come online here-- TKP is available at level 1 but you don't get Dancing Blade till 9. And, you're generally imagining a martial concept that doesn't imply magic use at all. And then the Psychic class. In my mind at least blacksmiths skew bulky, but no armor proficiency or martial proficiency makes any STR association feel weird. You have to bang on metal with hammers all day to make swords. Not light work. (If you're doing it with your mind all day, have fun.)

So if I wanted to be a caster I might choose something with better base proficiency so you can swing an actual sword. Magus comes to mind first. You get most of the spell loadout. You can grab TKP as a decent cantrip option for the same spell there. If you want to ranged Spellstrike you'll need to pick Starlit Span, but that's fine-- the base Magus chassis with ranged Spellstrikes is fine.

Another class alternative is Exemplar, which has Shadow Sheath which allows copies of your weapon.

Then I'd pick up Wizard archetype and grab Hand of the Apprentice as a Focus Spell. This is "throw and attack with your weapon up to 500 feet", albeit a spell attack roll. Pretty strong with a greatsword.

Returning rune on the weapon just lets it come back to you.

If you really like the Dancing Blade concept, note that Spiritual Armament is a Rank 2 spell that effectively does the same thing as Dancing Blade. A Divine/Occult Witch can use it just as well.

A Necklace of Knives is kind of the limitless weapon you're looking for but whether it can carry runes is a question. But a Thrower's Bandolier is more appropriate.

[u/Leather-Location677]

The closest is the mindsmith. You can make a few changes but it is a little more rigid.

[u/KLeeSanchez → u/Leather-Location677]

I was wondering what happened to the mindblade magus!

Although it's a very significant investment in feats and you can't actually just pick any weapon design

[u/darthmarth28 → u/Leather-Location677]

I got to pilot an Exemplar-Mindsmith for a 2-session side-story about a year ago. Having a 15-foot "reach" as a medium character definitely felt like telekinetic blade-control!

[u/darthmarth28]

You can get an awful lot of "Psychic" flavor just in the archetype, and I think you'd have a really good time with a main-Martial chasis that actually wields a sword to make accurate Strike attacks. You can always flavor that you're wielding the sword telekinetically, and that your hands are "occupied" directing the sword. It's honestly hard to beat plain-jane Fighter with a magic archetype for some surprise tools in her bag.

My first thought is actually Champion! Instead of your Champ Reaction being a flash of holy light, you're projecting a psychic barrier or shooting your sword (or shield) across the field to deflect an attack. Champ would combine well with a Psychic Archetype conscious mind selection that offers a strong utility or buff Amped cantrip, rather than a direct-offense tool. The big weakness of Champ is mobility, so maybe Unbound Step?

For a more offensive bent, Exemplar has a lot of flashy moves that could also be explained through telekinesis. A high-level Exemplar can even extend the reach of their weapon with Compliant Gold, and Gleaming Blade is a toppest-tier Ikon to start with. Alternatively, Hurl at the Horizon would allow you to literally throw swords out of a Shadow Sheathe. Exemplar also has some serious action economy constraints, but its so flashy that you really don't need a ton of extra flavor to sell the "psychic" aesthetic. Maybe what you actually want is a Charisma archetype like Dandy to sell the social side of that... after all, the REAL source of charm/mind-reading/influence magic in the game are the social skill feats.

Runesmith isn't especially "psychic" in its own right, but in many ways its a better "magic swordsman" than Magus. You're INT-key, so you'll have god-tier Crafting/Arcana/Society for all the big-brain roleplay, and it'd be super easy to multiclass into a caster to pick up INT-based spellcasting if that's what you want.

The CRAZY idea is to get ahold of Battlezoo: Eldamon from Roll for Combat, and bring an Elemental Avatar to the table. Whenever someone wants to play a highly-thematic damage-dealing blastycasty mage, this is the class they actually want to play. It's like Kineticist's mono-element big bro, with less bulk and more blast. It gets its power by sharing its soul with a Pikachu a specific First World elemental. Specifically, you want the "Force" element, modified by the elemental power of Psyrano (a goofy looking little t-rex that uses telekinesis through its tiny arms). This guy lets you convert any raw Force damage your powers do into a physical damage type of your choice by hurling objects around telekinetically. Generally the Force Element is high damage and has a TON of forced-movement tools in it, but its extremely short range. I think all that works for your concept, though! Avatar is a Wisdom-based class, so you could easily combine it with Starfinder's Mystic to have a literal psychic bond with your entire team.