So, how about them Hexblades?

[malien]

Has anyone here played a Hexblade? (One of the new classes in Complete Warrior.) Maybe someone in your gaming group has? Or are you DMing for one?

I'm considering allowing Hexblades into my campaign, per a player's request, and now am considering playing one myself, in another game. But they seem a bit... well, I don't know. They've got some interesting abilities, but am I the only one that thinks that -4 at 20th level isn't going to make much if any difference?

Also, the spell list is sort of... bare...

Or am I wrong here? I'd love to hear about some experiences with the class...

 

[green slime]

I agree, they suck. They are lacking something. More spells, I believe. They have a cool schtik, it just isn't very good. They really suffer from MAD.

 

[Merlion]

Not to mention the stupid alignment restriction.


But yea, if you want to be a spellcasting warrior in D&D you pretty much have to mutliclass and really need a prestige class like Spellsword too

 

[malien]

Well, if they suck... what could be done to improve them? The concept is really cool...

(Btw, what's MAD stand for?

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Not to mention the stupid alignment restriction.

Yeah, seriously. Since when does putting a hex on someone automatically make you non-good?

I agree that hexing good people may not be a good maneuver. But hexing an evil person? Where's the difference between that and some of the clerical spells that good clerics are allowed to cast?

Although to be fair, malien, with Dire Hexblade's curse the curse is actually -6 at 20th level, not -4. While it may not be much against an opponent using natural attacks, opponents who count on iteritive attacks could be hurt by a -6 each time they try to deal damage. And a -6 to a save category can be significant (especially if your wizard/sorcerer knows you are going to curse someone and has a spell ready to take advantage of the lowered save. This class can be nasty when used in cooperation with other classes. But in some respects its like the bard. It's only really nasty when other classes are used in conjunction with its abilities.

 

[LostSoul]

But yea, if you want to be a spellcasting warrior in D&D you pretty much have to mutliclass and really need a prestige class like Spellsword too

Unless you play a cleric.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Well, if they suck... what could be done to improve them? The concept is really cool...

(Btw, what's MAD stand for?

I think it stands for Multiple Abilities Disorder, wherein a character needs a lot of good abilities (in this case, Str, Dex, Con and Cha).

I like the Hexblade concept, but I agree that it needs... something else. It makes, IMO, for a 2nd-rate, 2nd line fighter, and not for much else...

AR

 

[Peter Gibbons]

I'd love to hear about some experiences with the class...

Well, Hexblade happened to be a perfect starting point--both mechanically and flavor-wise--for my Hexblade/Barbarian/Thayan Knight-turned-Occult Slayer/Warrior of Darkness character. (I'll bet some of you anti-multiclassing types out there just popped a blood vessel.) But aside from a very limited function like that, I wouldn't want to play one.

 

[malien]

So, seems to be the consensus that flavour is there, but mechanically, the class is weak.

What can be done to improve it? Has anyone done anything in their campaigns to make them a more playable class?

 

[Nonlethal Force]

Honestly, before I buy that the class is weak, I'd like to hear from someone who actually has built a hexblade up to 20th level through gameplay.

That's like alot of people have serious problems with the bard. The bard is a great character when the right player uses them to play the right role. Trying to force a bard into being a front line fighter or the only party spellcaster is putting the bard out of character.

I think the same tends to be true with hexblades. People want either a fighter, or a caster, or a theif. But the hexblade isn't any of those - so in comparison to all those the hexblade will seem sub-par. I'd like to hear from a person who played a hexblade through some significant levels without PrC or multiclassing too much and see what role they did find for them.