Hi everyone.
So a quick word.
I've started to play DnD in 4th Ed and joined a group of friends who did play in 3rd and 3.5.
The one class i really had an interest in playing was the Hexblade, i just love Arcane fighters and the concept of the hexblade just screamed Sith Lord, i mean come on, i don't know anything cooler then been able to summon a Wraith like extra-dimensional weapon to unleash death and destruction.
And even though i played this charater for quite a good while, i quickly saw the caveats and limitations of this class.
Now since then we dropped 4th for pathfinder, and none of the guys want to try 5th.
But lately some of us want to give 4th Ed a try again and tweak a few things around, and the Hexblade is amongst the things we think it needs a "few" tweaks.
So we have though first about what is wrong with the Hexblade, what we came up is this.
-Total Lack of feats that synergies with the pact weapon and other features of the Class, i mean since its basically a Warlock subclass, the only you get most of the time are feats desinged for it, and they require the Warlock's Curse feature, wich you don't have.
-Total lack of Powers that also use the strengths of the Class, you get the At-will and the Encounter power that you can use 2 times and voila, then you need to wait till lvl26 to get the Soul Cutter daily...
-WHile things got sorted out, the way and conditions in wich you can summon your pact weapon is really..., dunno lacking...
Now of course you can make a lot with this class, since it as enormous of synergies with weapons and implements related feats, but thats the problem you need to pay a heavy Feat tax, to make it work...
So a few things me and a mate of mine came up that might work to some extent.
-Change the way the Pact weapon works.
For that we decided to use the way the Shadow wrought weapon power works from the Unseelie Agent theme.
In short, you can stll use the usual method, namely " implements in one hand and manifest the pact weapon in the other and copy the implements, properties and powers and enhancement", Or if you don't have an implement you can use the Shadow wrought method.
Another way of doing it is like the new Pact of the Blade works for 5th ed Warlocks, in short you can bond with a weapon through a ritual, and this weapon becomes your Pact blade, and you can use a minor action to summon it in your hand, it stays until you dismiss it or if its stay 1 minutes( so basically 6 rounds) more then 1 square away from you.
Now we arn't really sure since both methods works, personnaly i'm rather fond of the "Wraith-like extra dimensional blade", but thats because i'm a Legacy of Kain fan.
If we go with this method then maybe turn the 5th Ed Pact blade into a Paragon feat?
Also something we came with is to add to this something akin to the Sorceror feat " Sorcerous Blade channeling", wich permit you to use Sorceror ranged power with a melee weapon in melee range.
This would give the option to use all the Warlock powers like the At wills and encounter you get with the Pact, if you use the Warlocks powers in this manner they count has having the weapon and implement keywords.
We think all of this covers a good portion of it, now onto the real problem, the feats.
A part for somethings i've gotta admit that we don't have many ideas for the feats.
What we though of.
-a feat that lets you for a minor action Shape-shift your pact weapon into a weapon that you are proficient with, like if you want to use a Pact Spear, or a Chain, it would count in all regards as a weapon of that category.
-a Feat that adds a little something to the Pact boon, like for Infernal Soul feast " Invigorating Soul feast- when you trigger your Soul feast power you gain a +1/3/5 dmg on your next target that you damage.
-a Paragon feat that lets you Summon a bit more power from your patron to Shapeshift yourself, Like Horns for extra charging dmg, Hooves for more speed and manoeuvrability, Wings to give some "Feather fall" like effect, a Third Eye or anything else to have a reroll, it would be a once per encounter kinda thing, but you would take some dmg once the effect is over.
Also for Paragon since the Legendary Hexblade Paragon Path isn't really that awesome, we though of converting the Magus Bladebound archetype for this, or simply like the Doomlord with its special Ridder attacks=
So yeah we have a few options, so we wanted your opinion and suggestion on this.
It could serve to make a Houserule compendium for the Hexblade, since i couldn't find any on the web( lots of houserules for the 3.5 Hexblade, but none for the 4th ed).
So see ya guys, hope it will stire your interest.
So a quick word.
I've started to play DnD in 4th Ed and joined a group of friends who did play in 3rd and 3.5.
The one class i really had an interest in playing was the Hexblade, i just love Arcane fighters and the concept of the hexblade just screamed Sith Lord, i mean come on, i don't know anything cooler then been able to summon a Wraith like extra-dimensional weapon to unleash death and destruction.
And even though i played this charater for quite a good while, i quickly saw the caveats and limitations of this class.
Now since then we dropped 4th for pathfinder, and none of the guys want to try 5th.
But lately some of us want to give 4th Ed a try again and tweak a few things around, and the Hexblade is amongst the things we think it needs a "few" tweaks.
So we have though first about what is wrong with the Hexblade, what we came up is this.
-Total Lack of feats that synergies with the pact weapon and other features of the Class, i mean since its basically a Warlock subclass, the only you get most of the time are feats desinged for it, and they require the Warlock's Curse feature, wich you don't have.
-Total lack of Powers that also use the strengths of the Class, you get the At-will and the Encounter power that you can use 2 times and voila, then you need to wait till lvl26 to get the Soul Cutter daily...
-WHile things got sorted out, the way and conditions in wich you can summon your pact weapon is really..., dunno lacking...
Now of course you can make a lot with this class, since it as enormous of synergies with weapons and implements related feats, but thats the problem you need to pay a heavy Feat tax, to make it work...
So a few things me and a mate of mine came up that might work to some extent.
-Change the way the Pact weapon works.
For that we decided to use the way the Shadow wrought weapon power works from the Unseelie Agent theme.
[h=1]Create Shadow-Wrought Weapon[/h]You call forth the weapon given you by your master, a weapon that is cold to the touch no matter the temperature of its surroundings.
EncounterArcane, Shadow
Minor Action Personal
Requirement: You must have a hand free.
Effect: You call to your hand a shadow-wrought weapon that lasts until you dismiss it as a free action or until you use this power again. The weapon has a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls, and it deals 1d8 extra damage on a critical hit.
Level 6: +2 enhancement bonus, 2d8 extra damage.
Level 11: +3 enhancement bonus, 3d8 extra damage.
Level 16: +4 enhancement bonus, 4d8 extra damage.
Level 21: +5 enhancement bonus, 5d8 extra damage.
Level 26: +6 enhancement bonus, and 6d8 extra damage.
In short, you can stll use the usual method, namely " implements in one hand and manifest the pact weapon in the other and copy the implements, properties and powers and enhancement", Or if you don't have an implement you can use the Shadow wrought method.
Another way of doing it is like the new Pact of the Blade works for 5th ed Warlocks, in short you can bond with a weapon through a ritual, and this weapon becomes your Pact blade, and you can use a minor action to summon it in your hand, it stays until you dismiss it or if its stay 1 minutes( so basically 6 rounds) more then 1 square away from you.
Now we arn't really sure since both methods works, personnaly i'm rather fond of the "Wraith-like extra dimensional blade", but thats because i'm a Legacy of Kain fan.
If we go with this method then maybe turn the 5th Ed Pact blade into a Paragon feat?
Also something we came with is to add to this something akin to the Sorceror feat " Sorcerous Blade channeling", wich permit you to use Sorceror ranged power with a melee weapon in melee range.
This would give the option to use all the Warlock powers like the At wills and encounter you get with the Pact, if you use the Warlocks powers in this manner they count has having the weapon and implement keywords.
We think all of this covers a good portion of it, now onto the real problem, the feats.
A part for somethings i've gotta admit that we don't have many ideas for the feats.
What we though of.
-a feat that lets you for a minor action Shape-shift your pact weapon into a weapon that you are proficient with, like if you want to use a Pact Spear, or a Chain, it would count in all regards as a weapon of that category.
-a Feat that adds a little something to the Pact boon, like for Infernal Soul feast " Invigorating Soul feast- when you trigger your Soul feast power you gain a +1/3/5 dmg on your next target that you damage.
-a Paragon feat that lets you Summon a bit more power from your patron to Shapeshift yourself, Like Horns for extra charging dmg, Hooves for more speed and manoeuvrability, Wings to give some "Feather fall" like effect, a Third Eye or anything else to have a reroll, it would be a once per encounter kinda thing, but you would take some dmg once the effect is over.
Also for Paragon since the Legendary Hexblade Paragon Path isn't really that awesome, we though of converting the Magus Bladebound archetype for this, or simply like the Doomlord with its special Ridder attacks=
[h=1]Entropy Strike[/h]A ruinous attack ravages an enemy and delays its ability to recover from its injuries.
EncounterElemental, Necrotic
No Action Special
Trigger: You hit an enemy with a melee weapon attack.
Effect: The attack deals 1[W] extra necrotic damage, and the target cannot regain hit points or gain temporary hit points until the end of your next turn.
So yeah we have a few options, so we wanted your opinion and suggestion on this.
It could serve to make a Houserule compendium for the Hexblade, since i couldn't find any on the web( lots of houserules for the 3.5 Hexblade, but none for the 4th ed).
So see ya guys, hope it will stire your interest.
