A Potent Hexblade

[pawsplay]

Practiced Spellcaster (ComArc): This one is quite strong for a Hexblade, as at 20th level you still have a Caster Level of 14 (Pick up Ioun Stones to help this out) and you have a slim slim chance to use some of your more debilitating spells against enemies with SR and actually succeed in casting them.

You mean 12. PC grants you casting ability as though you gained four levels, and a Hexblade only gains two caster levels in four levels.

 

[zeb.hillard]

You mean 12. PC grants you casting ability as though you gained four levels, and a Hexblade only gains two caster levels in four levels.

Your Hexblade caster level is equal to half of your class level (Unless I'm mistaken). Practiced Spellcaster gives you up to +4 Caster level, putting you at 10 (Maximum level) +4 (Practiced Spellcaster) = 14.

Unless I'm mistaken about te Hexblade's caster level, that is.

 

[Doug McCrae]

The Sudden Stunning magic weapon feature in DMG II is cheap and awesome for charismatic warrior-types.

They fixed Sudden Stunning in Magic Item Compendium. The DMG2 version is way overpowered imo. In MIC it's a +1 bonus, requires a Fort save and the stun only lasts 1 round. Still worth taking for a melee warrior with a high cha.

 

[Nazhkandrias]

All of these are excellent suggestions! I'll try to deal with them one by one.

Strength will be more useful for your character than dexterity.
You're using a non-finessible weapon and you are building a tripper so strength in paramount.

Forgot about that one - I remembered tripping had SOMETHING to do with a Dex check; guess I got the defender's and the attacker's checks mixed up. I mostly went with Dex to boost the armor class a bit, but I'll probably end up putting Str and Dex on an even keel - in the +2 to +3 range each. That extra damage from Str will be nice, especially with a scythe - it lacks in direct punch. But whether I favor Str or Dex slightly over the other depends on if I want to multiclass - taking a few levels in rogue would make me pick Dex, but if I went with a more Str oriented class, I'd pick Str. I am intending to go full Hexblade, however. I might take a few levels in a prestige class (if I can find a suitable one), but that's it.

Oh...use the Hexblade Alternate Class feature in PHBII, it gives your opponent a penalty to saves, which allows for easier Hexing, and to armor class, which allows for even easier trips.

Most definitely. That will help to complement the debuffer aspect greatly, and I'm sure I could discuss it with the DM to get even more benefits from it. A shadowy panther standing next to a warrior who bends the laws of probability itself to his whim should offer a favorable circumstances bonus to an Intimidate check, wouldn't you say?

If you're using a 2-handed weapon, I think you'd be better off going Improved Trip with Power Attack, instead of the Mobility method. You'll push more damage, but you still won't be a front-line warrior. Now, if you took 3 levels in Barbarian or Rogue later on, different story...but it seems like you may be planning on Hexblade straight through.

Yes, I forgot about that little bonus that 2H weapons get with power attack - it will help. I don't intend to be a primary melee specialist, but I do intend to help out with the front - if my party lands a Fighter or Barbarian, I'll serve as their backup and debuffer, leaving them free to focus on pure damage, and if my party scores a ranger or another secondary combatant, we'll coordinate as well as possible to make up for the lack of a primary melee specialist - to tell the truth, I'd rather face a Fighter than a Hexblade and a Cleric team anyday.

For a trip build, if your DM allows it, theres a feat back in Sword and Fist (D&D 3.0 splatbook) called "Knockdown" the basic prerequisite was Improved Trip, and allowed a free trip attempt every time to did 10 or more damage to a target, provided of course, you are using a Trip weapon

I SERIOUSLY doubt it. Consider this - I hit 10 with my scythe. Fairly easy, if I have good Str and a buff or two. I get a free trip. OK, that's pushing it. After that trip, they're knocked prone, and I get a free attack with Improved Trip. Ouch, a bit too much. THEN I get an AoO when they stand up. With a standard action, I just made three attacks and knocked off my opponent's move action. I doubt my DM will go for that!

It is a cool visual, though... "You make a sweeping slash at their legs, and with an expert sweep, you twist your scythe and flip them over. With the inertia from your strike, you execute a spinning maneuver and slam the scythe directly through their chestplate. As they feebly try to stand up, you make a mighty downward stroke, pinning them to the ground by their head and ensuring that they won't ever get up." Wow, that's a cool image...

The Sudden Stunning magic weapon feature in DMG II is cheap and awesome for charismatic warrior-types.

Perhaps you could sweet-talk your DM into allowing the Reserve Feats in Complete Mage to be added to your bonus feat pool, as they are for Wizards' bonus feat pools. The one that riffs off of polymorph can give you temporary hp every round!

I probably won't be able to convince him to let me add those to the bonus feat pool, since he'll allow a lot of different books, but he tends to say no to major substitutions like that without a significant tradeoff. About the only thing I can convince him to add to those pools are the Hex feats from Dragon - it would be silly if he said no.

As for Sudden Stunning, can you give me some specific details on the MIC version? I like the sound of it, since I'm going for that high Cha score - plus, my theme is Weakening and Incapacitation - tripping and debuffing. Stunning makes it all the better!

On a bit of a tangent, I was thinking... I might invest in an Exotic Weapon. But I can't find any that really caught my interest, so I figured, why not create one? The basic idea is this - it's a greatscythe. Two-handed exotic, larger damage die, same crit, trip-capable, very heavy, VERY cool. Check out the thread in the House Rules forum - http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=192242. Please comment on this - if it gets approval from the forum users and my DM, I just might burn a feat to up my damage a bit, yet maintain my trip build.

 

[Particle_Man]

The DMG2 version is way overpowered imo.

It is, but I justified it for my Hexblade because I feel the Hexblade is way underpowered, so it balanced out.

 

[Particle_Man]

As for Sudden Stunning, can you give me some specific details on the MIC version? I like the sound of it, since I'm going for that high Cha score - plus, my theme is Weakening and Incapacitation - tripping and debuffing. Stunning makes it all the better!

I only have the DMG2 which has the overpowered version. I strongly advise you to bring cookies/beer/porn/etc. when you present it to your DM:

SUDDEN STUNNING

Activation: Activating a weapon with this ability is a swift action that must occur immediately after the wielder makes a successful melee attack.

Effect: On a successful melee attack, the wielder causes the weapon to emit a surge of magical energy. Unless the target succeeds on a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 wielder's level + wielder's Cha modifier), it is stunned for 1d4+1 rounds. This ability is usable a number of times per day equal to the wielder's Charisma bonus. Cost 2000 gp.

 

[Nazhkandrias]

It is, but I justified it for my Hexblade because I feel the Hexblade is way underpowered, so it balanced out.

On it's own, yeah, they might seem a little underpowered, but when combined with a dedicated fighter and arcane, they can SERIOUSLY help out. With enough debuffs and curses on a large enemy, a fighter can hope to hit on almost every attack and take almost no damage at all, while a spellcaster won't even have to worry about successful saves against their spells. When treated as a self-sufficient hybrid class, Hexblades are a little lacking, but when treated as what they really are, an offensive support class, they can really shine. Sorry, I really like the little guys!

I only have the DMG2 which has the overpowered version. I strongly advise you to bring cookies/beer/porn/etc. when you present it to your DM:

I might be able to manage the cookies, but those other options... well, let's just say that we play at my high school. I doubt the teachers would appreciate that.

 

[hanniball]

For race, I'd stick with Human. The bonus feat is obviously great, but the additional skill points are a great boon to any melee character. Especially one trying to max out Spellcraft, Concentration, Knowledge (Arcana) and still maintain a decent Intimidate, Bluff and Ride.

I would prioritize a Trip-based Hexblade's stats as such: Str>Cha>Con>Int>Dex>Wis

With a 28 point buy it'd look something like: 15/12/14/13/8/14. Whatever you decide on, just remember that Charisma governs your Curse DC, spell save DCs, bonus spells, Aura of Unluck duration (IIRC), and a few key class skills. Not to mention you add your Charisma mod to saving throws vs. spells!

If you're willing to multi-class, I'd recommend 3 levels in the Blackguard Prc. This nets you Poison Use, Charisma mod to all saving throws, Smite Good 1/day, Command Undead, and Aura of Despair. The Aura is a great debuff and, when combined with Ability Focus: Curse and your Dark Companion, your Curse is far more likely to succeed. The Command Undead ability opens the door to Divine feats which can greatly augment your offensive (Divine Might) and defensive (Divine Shield/Vigor) capabilities.

Here's a quick suggestion for a Hexblade/Blackguard build:

Human Hex (Dark Companion variant) 16/Ftr 1/Blk 3 (Hex 5/Ftr 1/Blk 3/Hex +11)

Feats: Ability Focus: Curse (Human), Power Attack (1), Cleave (3), Spell Focus: Necromancy (Hex 5), Improved Sunder (Ftr 1), Combat Brute (6), Combat Expertise (9), Improved Trip (12), Greater Spell Focus: Necro (Hex 10), Divine Might (15), Practiced Spellcaster: Hexblade (18), Spell Focus: Illusion/Enchantment (Hexblade 15)

Whatever you do, don't forget about the Hexblade's interesting spell list. Namely, Polymorph and Enervation. Loading up on scrolls and wands will provide even more options for when things go awry.

Either way...just my 2 cp

 

[Nazhkandrias]

Wow... this is pretty much what I was looking for, but I need to make a change or two. Human is the race I was going to stick with anyway; naturally, I couldn't afford a Cha penalty, so Half-Orc and Dwarf were off the list, as were most of the MM races (I also avoid LAs like the plague). Str penalty was a big no-no (at least for a Trip build with emphasis on melee combat), so that scratches Gnomes and Halflings. Elves are cool, but I didn't want to sacrifice Dex for Con. Half-elves are a little mediocre all-around, IMHO. So, that left me with the always-viable Humans.

As for abilities, that's definitely what I'm going to do. For my 4th level ability increase, I'll probably get a Str boost, just to net that +3, then boost Cha at all subsequent levels. I'll nab some Gloves of Dexterity later on to cushion this weakness to my AC and Reflex saves.

As for Blackguard... I can't argue that it would be an excellent choice, but I was really hoping to stay away from the Evil alignment. Doesn't really fit with the nature of the character, which I've already planned out. And since I intend to enter him into a PbP game, character development and roleplaying are key. The character is more along the lines of an abandoned child attempting to prove their worth (for those of you who have read The Painted Bird, by Jerzey Kozinski, he's along the same lines as The Boy), so the Evil alignment just doesn't fit too well.

There is an upside, though - it means I won't have to take Improved Sunder (I'd actually get use out of Power Attack and maybe Cleave) and I won't have to take 5 CC ranks in Hide and 2 CC ranks in Knowledge (religion). That frees up a feat or two and a total of 14 skill points (3.5 levels worth).

So, MY final choice of feats would be like this, if I were to go pure Hexblade (however, I'm likely to take a 2 level dip into Fighter at any time, and I might find a suitable PrC or might take a quick dip into Sorcerer)...

H. Ability Focus: Hexblade's Curse
1. Combat Expertise
3. Improved Trip
Hex5. Combat Casting
6. Power Attack
9. Improved Critical (scythe)
Hex10. Hex Feat - Empower Curse (I can get my DM to allow it) (Dragon #339)
12. Practiced Spellcaster
15. Battle Caster
Hex15. Spell Focus (necromancy)
18. Hex Feat - Curse Of Distraction, or Hex Feat - Extra Curse
Hex20. Greater Spell Focus (necromancy)

FYI, Empower Curse increases all Curse penalties by 1, Curse of Distraction allows you to cast a new Curse (along with your basic one; both use one use of Curse) requires that all spellcasters must make a Concentration check to cast spells (25 + Spell Level with Dire Hexblade's Curse), and Extra Curse does just that - gives one extra use per day. So, this is a build focusing on Trip and Curse, along with some all-around useful feats. I shift the focus to my spellcasting a little later on, but emphasis is never taken off the Curse and my combat ability. Any suggestions for improvement?

Oh, and I lent out my Complete Warrior book to a friend, so I don't know this off the top of my head - Hexblade starting gold is the same as a Fighter, right?

 

[m457ersp00k]

Playing a Scythe weilding hexblade in a game now, Ravenloft setting... makes for some interesting quirks..
I've been having trouble finding a decent PrC, so i took Fighter 1/hex7 for now.. i'll probably up fighter again for the feats soon.. And trip has saved me arse a few times i may need to focus on that now..

But aye, Dark Companion for the win
Intimidating Strike has taken the game too.. its worth it in singular combat, and because it fits the character (roleplay style) 'back to the wall' from the Ravenloft phb is nice.

But now im thinking thanks