Willie the Duck
Hero
Sullivan's father came home one night... different. His wife wasn't sure exactly what had changed, but he never was quite the same again. Previously he had been a shining epitome of brightness and humanity amongst the dour forlk of the rain and mist-filled Kharhrndan valley. But after that night he'd lost his former warmth, both literally and figuratively. As the local veterinarian and emergency doctor, he kept performing his duties as usual. However, the animals -- which formerly he'd been able to bond with easily -- no longer trusted him. The people whose ailments he treated still did fine, for the most part, but he sure did focus a lot more on bloodletting. This charade went on for years -- enough time for Sullivan to be conceived, have a relatively normal childhood, and grow into an adventure-hungry young man. At that point his father revealed that he'd become a vampire that night, somehow managed to avoid having to go into the sunlight for 19 years, and had his duty. He'd sworn an oath to his wife that he'd give her a child and see that child to adulthood, and now he was off to somewhere with fewer churchbells and fewer requests that he go out into sunny fields that he'd have to convincingly subterfuge around. But in the meantime, here is an investiture of power, use it well.
That's the character concept for Sullivan. I am considering a Pact of Undead Bladelock, either straight up, or with a dip into fighter for heavier armor. We are starting at level 3. Do people think this is doable? If so, best options? The rest of the party are lizardfolk ranger, half-elf rogue-wizard and drow wizard.
Regarding straight bladelock: I'm a little concerned about all 3 characters who regularly pick up weapons all being Dex-based (who will wield the fancy longsword we come across? will we squabble over the +1 rapier or shortwords we come across? Who will open stuck pickle jars?), but at the same time a Str-bladelock build is tough. Plus I doubt I would have the ASIs free to grab the GWM/PAM/HAM that make Str-builds shine. If he were to be str-based for combat, a level of Fighter sounds tempting (plus some more appropriate skills, and starting out with Con proficiency), but it does delay progression. Working with middling dex and mage armor until level 4 and grabbing moderately armored then is another option, but is a precious feat. The Edritch Armor Unearthed Arcana invocation is a possibility, would have to check with DM.
That said, there's a lot to like about Undead Patron for a Bladelock. Form of Dread is offense, defense, requires no concentration, and only takes a bonus action (letting you attack on the same turn, unlike things like casting Cause Fear or Armor of Agathys or the like). Limited to 2/day at low levels, of course. There's also access to the spell Blindness/Deafness, which is a great concentration-less debuff that scales with casting level (so gets better as the warlock goes up in level).
For story reasons, I will want Mask of Many Faces or Disguise Self as a spell (perhaps through Shadow-Touched feat, if I decide to focusing on expanding my spell repertoire through that and Fey Touched). Other than that, it is relatively wide open.
Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Advice on which selection makes sense? Anyone played an undead pact bladelock before? How did it go?
And of course, thanks everyone!
That's the character concept for Sullivan. I am considering a Pact of Undead Bladelock, either straight up, or with a dip into fighter for heavier armor. We are starting at level 3. Do people think this is doable? If so, best options? The rest of the party are lizardfolk ranger, half-elf rogue-wizard and drow wizard.
Regarding straight bladelock: I'm a little concerned about all 3 characters who regularly pick up weapons all being Dex-based (who will wield the fancy longsword we come across? will we squabble over the +1 rapier or shortwords we come across? Who will open stuck pickle jars?), but at the same time a Str-bladelock build is tough. Plus I doubt I would have the ASIs free to grab the GWM/PAM/HAM that make Str-builds shine. If he were to be str-based for combat, a level of Fighter sounds tempting (plus some more appropriate skills, and starting out with Con proficiency), but it does delay progression. Working with middling dex and mage armor until level 4 and grabbing moderately armored then is another option, but is a precious feat. The Edritch Armor Unearthed Arcana invocation is a possibility, would have to check with DM.
That said, there's a lot to like about Undead Patron for a Bladelock. Form of Dread is offense, defense, requires no concentration, and only takes a bonus action (letting you attack on the same turn, unlike things like casting Cause Fear or Armor of Agathys or the like). Limited to 2/day at low levels, of course. There's also access to the spell Blindness/Deafness, which is a great concentration-less debuff that scales with casting level (so gets better as the warlock goes up in level).
For story reasons, I will want Mask of Many Faces or Disguise Self as a spell (perhaps through Shadow-Touched feat, if I decide to focusing on expanding my spell repertoire through that and Fey Touched). Other than that, it is relatively wide open.
Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Advice on which selection makes sense? Anyone played an undead pact bladelock before? How did it go?
And of course, thanks everyone!