D&D 5E Hexblade (Warlock/Paladin)

[Mandragola]

Mearls said on twitter that it's up to the DM. Which I think is ridiculous but whatever.

Wow that's unhelpful. Oh well. Fortunately I think I'll go single-class anyway, at least at the start... and I'm DMing HOTDQ for a while anyway.

 

[Fion]

That's one of my only issues with 5th edition. The rules are not codified very well, which leaves a great deal 'up to the DM'. Not that there's a problem but I suspect it'll lead to a lot of rules arguments.

But, I spose that could change with future material.

 

[sidonunspa]

That's one of my only issues with 5th edition. The rules are not codified very well, which leaves a great deal 'up to the DM'. Not that there's a problem but I suspect it'll lead to a lot of rules arguments.

But, I spose that could change with future material.

I find that quite liberating, when everything is hard coded it seems to limit creativity.

in the 5e games I'm running the players are trying stuff they would have never attempted in 3.X (because you needed a feat for.. well.. everything. Or the rules were so harsh that unless you were tweaked out to pull off "X" it was simply not worth it)

I like the fact that they are leaving things up to the DM again... I feel like a DM again not a judge...

but back on topic... I'm looking to build a character like this? has anyone done so? how did it do?

 

[Fion]

Thats all well and good Sidonunspa, but there are other games out-there that offer that freedom of play style while still getting all the rules down without huge 3.x style bloat. Savage Worlds is a good example. A $10 core book with everything you ever need to know packed into its small 100 page frame. A game that is arguably much more open to creative freedom.

The reason I have an issue with the 5e 'up to the DM' issue is that it might only be a small matter at your game table with friends, but it only causes problems at Encounters games and more specifically, convention games. Each DM has their own answer and when you need to ask 'do you allow this?' and 'do you consider this feature to work like A or B' a dozen times just during character creation, it gets to be a bit much.

Don't get me wrong there's a lot I like in 5e and it's markedly improved over past editions, especially 3.x, the 'least D&D' edition of the entire series in my opinion (someone who has played since the 83' red box). I still GM'ed for it quite a lot but it's no coincidence that it was during the last 90's early 2000's that I started to also play games like L5R, World of Darkness, Exalted & Mutants + Masterminds.

 

[Morrus]

when you need to ask 'do you allow this?' and 'do you consider this feature to work like A or B' a dozen times just during character creation

Is that really your experience?

 

[Fion]

Not every time, but a few times yes... especially at a table with several power gamers.

 

[Runny]

It has been my experience. The warlock is a totally cool class, but the write up is edited poorly. Something as fundamental as character creation of a core class should not have to rely on Twitter. Nothing that a decent errata won't solve, but until then it is a significant deficiency in an otherwise fantastic system.

 

[Quinadin]

Finally a thread that's not really old. I've been doing crazy research into this because I'm getting ready to start a new campaign and I like the idea of Oath of Ancients/Archfey. Though I would love to be able to pick up Thirsting Blade at pal3/war2 It seems every thread I read seems to overlook the part under Eldritch Invocations on page 107 that states "When you gain certain warlock levels, you gain additional invocations of your choice," To me that is clear that it is Warlock level and not class level. Has this been cleared up by anyone yet?

 

[Runny]

Jeremy Crawford cleared it up on Sage... It is warlock levels.

 

[nniciont]

If you want to be dex-based you should start as a paladin, as that way you can avoid the strength requirement of becoming a MC paladin. .

This has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. The PHB is pretty clear on this, though.

Page 163:

PREREQUISITES
To qualify for a new class, you must meet the ability score
prerequisites for both your current class and your new
one, as shown in the Multiclassing Prerequisites table.
For example, a barbarian who decides to multiclass into
the druid class must have both Strength and Wisdom
scores of 13 or higher. Without the full training that
a beginning character receives, you must be a quick
study in your new class, having a natural aptitude that
is reflected by higher-than-average ability scores.