Warcaster

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Your typical Warcaster - Warrior, mage, controller of metal beasts and a bit too often, Mary Sue.

Warcasters (sometimes shortened to 'casters) are a specialized type of battle mage found in Warmachine and the Iron Kingdoms setting, making up the majority of the protagonists, antagonists, movers and shakers of the metaplot. The vary greatly in function and form, however, as they almost always multiclass, running the gamut of classic PC archetypes; you have at minimum clerics, paladins, fighters, rangers and of course dedicated spell-slingers for each faction, lending to a whole range of playstyles just by swapping out 'casters.

Warcasters were originally introduced as a high-level prestige class for the Iron Kingdoms setting for Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition. Since then, they became the focal point of Warmachine, with an army literally built around the warcaster choosen to lead it. Additionally, most of the stories focus on the Warcasters themselves.

Although they are incredibly competent at fighting, commanding and using magic the main function of a typical 'caster is to command the warjacks of an army; multi-ton, steam-powered warmachines for which the game is named. Warjacks are hands down the toughest individual models you can find in the game, as well as the ones most able to dish out punishment at range and in their faces.

They do this via a Warcaster's unique mechanic; Focus Manipulation. With Focus, the performance of Warjacks (and the Warcasters themselves) reach incredible levels; Focus as a mix of Mana/MP and Fate points, typically 5-10 per warcaster, that is refreshed per turn. Warjacks can be 'allocated' Focus during the Control Phase of the controlling player's turn, and can then spend Focus to perform various shenanigans, from boosting their attacks and buying additional attacks to performing 'Power Attacks' (which are almost exclusively used by Warjacks, see their article). Always, a warjack that is topped up with Focus will utterly curbstomp an identical warjack that isn't given Focus. However, a typical warjack can only be allocated 3 Focus a turn (barring special rules that allow you to allocate more), so they aren't as broken as you'd think.

Linking your mind with a machine typically doesn't end in Mind Rape (at least, not in this setting), but it does influence the cortex/brain of the warjack, especially when a warcaster's been linked with a warjack for a long time, develops a particular affinity for it or just becomes that damn good at controlling warjacks. Because of this, several warcasters can form 'bonds' with their warmachines, adding on additional abilities that can make it even more scary to fight, first by letting more Focus be allocated to the 'jack, and by giving them additional effects while in their control range (which a Warjack shouldn't be out of); Major Victoria Haley of Cygnar, for example, gives her warjacks a movement boost (which can make a slow bro become a lightning bruiser from turn 1, or make an already fast warjack downright silly).

In 5th Edition

Warcasters naturally got turned into a full-fledged class of their own when Privateer Press decided they were going to go full circle and bring the Iron Kingdoms back into the D&D sphere for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, appearing in the Requiem corebook - their Warlock counterparts wouldn't show up until Borderlands & Beyond in 2022.

In 5e, the Warcaster is, at its core, an Intelligence-based Prepared Half Caster, with spells capping out at 6th level. However, rather than using spell slots like other 5e classes, it uses Focus as a kind of mana system; a Warcaster has a level-based pool of Focus (starting with 2 Focus and capping out at 8 Focus at level 19), and recharges 1 Focus ever 10 minutes (and fills the whole pool on a short rest). To cast a spell, a Warcaster needs to spend Focus equal to its spell level, and can "overcharge" the spell by spending excess Focus to boost its potency, ala a wizard casting a spell with a higher level spell slot.

At 2nd level, they gain the Focus Manipulation class feature, which lets them spend focus to buff themselves in the following ways. 3rd level gives them the ability to transfer Focus to a steamjack they have bonded to; a steamjack only holds this Focus for 10 minutes, but can spend the points to gain the Attack Bonus, Damage Bonus and Shake it Off buffs.

• Attack Bonus: Costs 1 Focus, make an attack with a bonded mechanikal weapon with Advantage.
• Damage Bonus: On a successful hit with a bonded mechanikal weapon, do +1d8 weapon damage per Focus point spent.
• Reduce Damage: If wearing bonded mechanikal armor, you can use your Reaction to spend 1 Focus when you take damage to reduce the damage taken by (2*Proficiency Bonus).
• Shake It Off: Costs 1 Focus, ends a condition or enemy effect that a save can end.

The core features of the 5e Warcaster, outside of the Focus manipulating and spellcasting stuff, are:

• Bond: 1st level, you can Attune to mechanikal items as if they were magical items by spending an action rather than a short rest. A bonded mechanikal weapon counts as a spellcasting focus for warcaster spells.
• Steamjack Bond: 3rd level, you can Bond to a steamjack by spending 10 minutes touching it. You can telepathically command steamjacks from (maximum Focus * 10) feet away. Bonded steamjacks act on their own initiative, but do what you command them.
• Power Up: 5th level, all Bonded steamjacks under your control gain 1 Focus at the start of each of your turns.
• Direct Control: 11th level, you can assume direct psychic control over a Bonded steamjack.
• Refined Focus: 15th level, Spending Focus for a Damage Bonus now grants +1d10 damage per Focus spent. Spending Focus for an Attack Bonus causes the attack to automatically be a Critical Hit if both the dice roll trigger a successful hit.
• Battlegroup: 17th level, whenever you transfer Focus to one Bonded steamjack, all your other Bonded steamjacks also gain +1 Focus for free.
• Focus Recovery: 20th level, if you roll Initiative and have no Focus points left, you automatically gain 4 Focus.

Warcasters even get subclasses, which they pick at 1st level - their subclass features are attained at 1st, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level. Iron Kingdoms: Requiem only comes with three subclasses; Controller, Arcanist and Soldier. Iron Kingdoms: Beyond the Borderlands reputedly has four more Warcaster subclasses planned for it; the Arcane Assassin, Arcanika Adeptis, Rhuilic Warcaster and Void Touched.

The Controller specializes in controlling steamjacks, and is the only warcaster to start with a steamjack minion - albeit a very weak model literally called a Clapped Out Steamjack.

The Arcanist specializes in spellcasting instead, with features that make using spells much more rewarding.

The Soldier focuses on the gish elements of the Warcaster; it specializes in bonding with mechanika and getting into the fray. This is the subclass you take if you want to be a Power Armored spellslinger with a chainsword.