ForceUser
Explorer
Hello humans. As a DM I have a great liking for the Hexblade class that debuted in Complete Warrior. To that end I have developed some special feats that augment the class's curse power in different ways. My design goal was twofold: first, I wanted the hexblade to have feats synonymous with the rage feats available to barbarians, the divine and smite feats of paladins, and the favored enemy feats that rangers can choose from. Second, I wanted to vary the possibilites for a hexblade's curse and provide exciting high level feats for the hexblade to look forward to. I am looking for honest critique from a game design perspective. If you think something's just too powerful feel free to say so, but tell me why. Thanks.
HEXBLADE CURSE FEATS
BLINDING CURSE
You can blind a foe with a curse.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 7th.
Benefit: When you curse your target, he is blinded for the duration of the curse effect. You must expend two curse attempts to make a blinding curse and it takes a standard action to perform. This effect does not stack with greater hexblade's curse or dire hexblade's curse. Any effect that removes or dispels a curse eliminates this effect.
Special: A hexblade may select Blinding Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
CURSE OF DECAY
Your curses are lethal.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 13th.
Benefit: A single visible target within 30 feet decays and dies instantly if it fails to save verses your curse. This curse replaces the normal hexblade curse effect. You must expend four curse attempts to make a curse of decay and it takes a standard action to perform. Constructs, deathless, and undead are immune to this curse.
Special: A hexblade may select Curse of Decay as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
EXTRA CURSE
You can curse more often.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 1st.
Benefit: You may use hexblade's curse, greater hexblade's curse, or dire hexblade's curse one extra time per day.
Special: A character may gain this feat multiple times. Its effects stack.
A hexblade may select Extra Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
GREATER POTENT CURSE
Your curses are astoundingly difficult to endure.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, Potent Curse.
Benefit: Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against your hexblade curses. This bonus stacks with the bonus from Potent Curse.
Special: A hexblade may select Greater Potent Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
LEGENDARY CURSE
You can curse all enemies within range.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 17th.
Benefit: You may extend your curse to all visible enemies within 60 ft. You must expend five curse attempts to make a legendary curse and it takes a full round action to perform. This effect does not stack with greater hexblade's curse or dire hexblade's curse. Any effect that removes or dispels a curse eliminates this effect.
Special: A hexblade may select Legendary Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
LEGION'S CURSE
You can curse several enemies within range.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 9th.
Benefit: You may extend your curse to all visible enemies within a 15-ft.-radius spread who are within 60 ft. You must expend three curse attempts to make a legion's curse and it takes a standard action to perform. This effect does not stack with greater hexblade's curse or dire hexblade's curse. Any effect that removes or dispels a curse eliminates this effect.
Special: A hexblade may select Legion's Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
LINGERING CURSE
Your curses last longer than normal.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 5th.
Benefit: Your curses last 1 hour/2 hexblade levels.
Normal: A hexblade's curse lasts for 1 hour.
Special: A hexblade may select Lingering Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
POTENT CURSE
Your curses are harder to overcome.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 1st.
Benefit: Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against your hexblade curses.
Special: A hexblade may select Potent Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
WRACKING CURSE
Your curses wrack a victim with intense, cramping pain.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 7th.
Benefit: When you curse your target, he is nauseated for the first round of the curse effect. Attempting a wracking curse is a standard action. Any effect that removes or dispels a curse eliminates this effect.
Special: A hexblade may select Wracking Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
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And just for fun, here's the hexblade flavor text I came up with for my campaign gazetteer.
“Bewares the hexblades curses/Mes littles time is nigh/For by an’ by I be afflicted/O’ th’ whoresons evil eye.”
From folklore about evil spirits and the restless dead, wives’ tales of black faeries of the wood that steal the children of the unwary, and the dying curses of those truly wronged comes the hexblade, a solemn warrior blessed (some would say cursed) with innate power in the dark arts. More an antihero than a hero, most hexblades grew up among poor or disenfranchised communities, such as the Vistani who wander Eriador endlessly. Some hexblades claim they were taught their art by fey, others by the ghosts of dead loved ones, while a few hexblades simply remain silent on the origin of their power. Whatever their history, hexblades are distrusted, feared and often hated for their ability to curse those who have offended them. Outcast, loner, misfit, thief, assassin, knave, opportunist, and mercenary, all these terms and more are thrust upon the hexblade, and as such they develop little love or respect for “normal” people and legitimate authority. Likewise, many hexblades turn from the gods in a dogged pursuit of greater secrets in the black arts, and it is the rare hexblade that does not scorn society and turn to a life of self-centered, callous evil.
Hexblades are warriors who combine a natural aptitude in arcane magic with skill at arms. Often they seem to be swathed in an aura of unluckiness – black cats cross their paths, mirrors shatter in their presence, water tastes foul and murky, small objects go missing or fall off shelves, untouched. Even hexblades who try to fit in with society inevitably deal with accusations of witchcraft and bringing bad luck upon a community. When a hexblade focuses this ambient power in the fury of battle, however, he is a terrifying force to be reckoned with. Many warriors are loathe to face down a hexblade and risk being cursed for life...or death.
Perhaps because of their fey heritage and the stigma that carries in human society, aelfborn make natural hexblades, and other half-breeds occasionally gravitate to the role as well. Outcast gnomes sometimes become hexblades, and goblins are also particularly well-suited to the class. Hexblades are exceedingly rare among most humans, although tales of them abound within the Vistani tribes, and some have been known to spring from Ulvmann or Vangal origins. It is almost unheard of for a warforged or lizardfolk to become a hexblade.
HEXBLADE CURSE FEATS
BLINDING CURSE
You can blind a foe with a curse.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 7th.
Benefit: When you curse your target, he is blinded for the duration of the curse effect. You must expend two curse attempts to make a blinding curse and it takes a standard action to perform. This effect does not stack with greater hexblade's curse or dire hexblade's curse. Any effect that removes or dispels a curse eliminates this effect.
Special: A hexblade may select Blinding Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
CURSE OF DECAY
Your curses are lethal.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 13th.
Benefit: A single visible target within 30 feet decays and dies instantly if it fails to save verses your curse. This curse replaces the normal hexblade curse effect. You must expend four curse attempts to make a curse of decay and it takes a standard action to perform. Constructs, deathless, and undead are immune to this curse.
Special: A hexblade may select Curse of Decay as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
EXTRA CURSE
You can curse more often.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 1st.
Benefit: You may use hexblade's curse, greater hexblade's curse, or dire hexblade's curse one extra time per day.
Special: A character may gain this feat multiple times. Its effects stack.
A hexblade may select Extra Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
GREATER POTENT CURSE
Your curses are astoundingly difficult to endure.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, Potent Curse.
Benefit: Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against your hexblade curses. This bonus stacks with the bonus from Potent Curse.
Special: A hexblade may select Greater Potent Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
LEGENDARY CURSE
You can curse all enemies within range.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 17th.
Benefit: You may extend your curse to all visible enemies within 60 ft. You must expend five curse attempts to make a legendary curse and it takes a full round action to perform. This effect does not stack with greater hexblade's curse or dire hexblade's curse. Any effect that removes or dispels a curse eliminates this effect.
Special: A hexblade may select Legendary Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
LEGION'S CURSE
You can curse several enemies within range.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 9th.
Benefit: You may extend your curse to all visible enemies within a 15-ft.-radius spread who are within 60 ft. You must expend three curse attempts to make a legion's curse and it takes a standard action to perform. This effect does not stack with greater hexblade's curse or dire hexblade's curse. Any effect that removes or dispels a curse eliminates this effect.
Special: A hexblade may select Legion's Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
LINGERING CURSE
Your curses last longer than normal.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 5th.
Benefit: Your curses last 1 hour/2 hexblade levels.
Normal: A hexblade's curse lasts for 1 hour.
Special: A hexblade may select Lingering Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
POTENT CURSE
Your curses are harder to overcome.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 1st.
Benefit: Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against your hexblade curses.
Special: A hexblade may select Potent Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
WRACKING CURSE
Your curses wrack a victim with intense, cramping pain.
Prerequisite: Hexblade's curse ability, hexblade level 7th.
Benefit: When you curse your target, he is nauseated for the first round of the curse effect. Attempting a wracking curse is a standard action. Any effect that removes or dispels a curse eliminates this effect.
Special: A hexblade may select Wracking Curse as one of his hexblade bonus feats.
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And just for fun, here's the hexblade flavor text I came up with for my campaign gazetteer.
“Bewares the hexblades curses/Mes littles time is nigh/For by an’ by I be afflicted/O’ th’ whoresons evil eye.”
From folklore about evil spirits and the restless dead, wives’ tales of black faeries of the wood that steal the children of the unwary, and the dying curses of those truly wronged comes the hexblade, a solemn warrior blessed (some would say cursed) with innate power in the dark arts. More an antihero than a hero, most hexblades grew up among poor or disenfranchised communities, such as the Vistani who wander Eriador endlessly. Some hexblades claim they were taught their art by fey, others by the ghosts of dead loved ones, while a few hexblades simply remain silent on the origin of their power. Whatever their history, hexblades are distrusted, feared and often hated for their ability to curse those who have offended them. Outcast, loner, misfit, thief, assassin, knave, opportunist, and mercenary, all these terms and more are thrust upon the hexblade, and as such they develop little love or respect for “normal” people and legitimate authority. Likewise, many hexblades turn from the gods in a dogged pursuit of greater secrets in the black arts, and it is the rare hexblade that does not scorn society and turn to a life of self-centered, callous evil.
Hexblades are warriors who combine a natural aptitude in arcane magic with skill at arms. Often they seem to be swathed in an aura of unluckiness – black cats cross their paths, mirrors shatter in their presence, water tastes foul and murky, small objects go missing or fall off shelves, untouched. Even hexblades who try to fit in with society inevitably deal with accusations of witchcraft and bringing bad luck upon a community. When a hexblade focuses this ambient power in the fury of battle, however, he is a terrifying force to be reckoned with. Many warriors are loathe to face down a hexblade and risk being cursed for life...or death.
Perhaps because of their fey heritage and the stigma that carries in human society, aelfborn make natural hexblades, and other half-breeds occasionally gravitate to the role as well. Outcast gnomes sometimes become hexblades, and goblins are also particularly well-suited to the class. Hexblades are exceedingly rare among most humans, although tales of them abound within the Vistani tribes, and some have been known to spring from Ulvmann or Vangal origins. It is almost unheard of for a warforged or lizardfolk to become a hexblade.
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