3.5 Blackguard gutted?

[thundershot]

In the new In the Works article http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20030413a

They show the new 3.5 blackguard.
Also here:

http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20030413e

Is it just me, or did that class get gutted? Not that any of my players have ever, or will likely ever, use one, they got rid of the whole ex-paladin thing (that is, unless something's just missing).

Thoughts?


Chris

 

[darkbard]

i'm not quite sure what you mean. nowhere in the 3.0 rules was being a fallen paladin a prerequisite for becoming a blackguard. in this revised edition, the blackguard has a few extra powers [additional smite, a new spell on its list], so i don't know how you can term it "gutted."

 

[thundershot]

I'm talking about table 2-12 in the DMG "Fallen Paladin Blackguard Abilities"




Chris

 

[rijeagle]

Quoted from Thundershot's signature

You know the world's gone mad when the best rapper is white, the best golfer is black, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's cup, France is accusing the USA of arrogance and the Germans don't want to go to war.


I know it has nothing to do with the topic, but I have to say one thing to that...

I'm packing my bags now, where's the spaceship...

 

[Joker]

Maybe they just forgot to put it in. It is, after all, an excerpt.

 

[darkbard]

actually, i think they may have folded many of those abilities into the class and made them available to all blackguards regardless of previous class orientation [increased smite good, increased sneak attack].

 

[Vecna]

The description of the sneak attack is wrong (+1d6 every other level).
Unless the mistake is in the table...

 

[Frostmarrow]

I'm glad they got rid of the fallen paladin abilities. It was always silly anyway. Why should paladins make for better champions of evil? I mean since the object of the game is to become ever increasingly more powerful; why wouldn't all paladins go the blackguard route? Moreover, why bother to become a blackguard if you are not a paladin as you become a second rate blackguard. How cool is that?

 

[Destil]

The description of the sneak attack is wrong (+1d6 every other level).
Unless the mistake is in the table...

Uhm... I was going to comment on it as a possible copy/paste error (there were a few in Savage Species that jumped right out at me), but upon closer inspection the two are in sync (Every 3 levels @ 4th, 7th & 10th)...

I'm glad they got rid of the fallen paladin abilities. It was always silly anyway. Why should paladins make for better champions of evil? I mean since the object of the game is to become ever increasingly more powerful; why wouldn't all paladins go the blackguard route? Moreover, why bother to become a blackguard if you are not a paladin as you become a second rate blackguard. How cool is that?

But, where's the fun in that? Not for evil Kobold sorcerers intent on corrupting paladins, that's for sure.


EDIT: One last thing. Good to see that the evil egg lord got the boot.

 

[Technik4]

Basically they traded out the fiendish servant for a couple smites. He also got eagle's splendor added (which pretty much confirms that that spell is A) In the PHB and B) On the paladin spell list).

As far as ex-paladins...well, I dont think I've ever seen anyone use it in a game (or even read about it happening) so I don't really see the big loss. It was kindof flavorful though, in a weird way.

Edited to Add: Well I guess they kept the fiendish servant (although since this is an excerpt, they didn't add whether the fiendish servant was going to get changed any). This leads me to believe that the ex-paladin table will also still be in the dmg, as I said a second ago, no loss either way.

So to recap 3.5 changes:

Added Eagle's Splendor to spell list

Added 2 additional smites.

Added a description of the aura one could detect with a detect evil spell.

Oh, and thank god they finally shortened the description for adding sneak attack to prcs. If they ever remake splatbooks that will be at least another page they can use for something useful.

Technik