D&D 5E Do Blackguards count as Fiends for spells like Protection From Good/Evil?

[RedGreen]

*New User*

First off, I attempted to search for this answer on Google and directly searching on EnWorld, but was not able to find anything conclusive. Searching for Blackguard + Fiend was not particularly helpful.

The description of Blackguard states they are "...no less than a mortal fiend", but it does not go into any mechanical detail about this. Would "Protection from Good/Evil" work against a Blackguard (e.g. disadvantage on attack)? Or would a Paladin's Divine Sense 'see' a (human) Blackguard as a fiend?

My apologies if this has already been addressed somewhere in the depths of a forum thread somewhere. If so, and you know where, please share a link.

Thank you all.

 

[Illithidbix]

Certainly nothing in my reading of the Blackguard entry seems to specify they should be treated as fiends.

If a DM decided that Blackguards counted as fiends (and perhaps Paladins counted as Celestials) in a style of the very old rules on evil clerics "turning Paladins" to suit their cosmology, that'd be their their call.

 

[thethain]

Blackguards are particularly evil humanoids, but still humanoids for the mechanical effects of spells.

 

[RedGreen]

Thank you, I had been leaning in that direction but wanted to see what other's thought.

 

[CapnZapp]

Welcome to the forums!

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

 

[Ed Laprade]

Welcome, and have some free XP.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Certainly nothing in my reading of the Blackguard entry seems to specify they should be treated as fiends.

If a DM decided that Blackguards counted as fiends (and perhaps Paladins counted as Celestials) in a style of the very old rules on evil clerics "turning Paladins" to suit their cosmology, that'd be their their call.

That makes me think of paladins as martial sorcerers: you have a little bit of X in you/an X cursed/blessed you, so you are becoming an X, but your basic combat gimmick is to (magically enhanced) hit things (instead of zap things like the sorcerer). Functionally it isn't much different than current paladins, but thematically it is an interesting direction.