Improving the hexblade.

[comrade raoul]

Suppose the hexblade (a core class in the Complete Warrior widely believed to be underpowered) had a special ability progression that looked like this (assume that attack bonuses, saves, and spells are unchanged):

Table: The Hexblade (Special Abilities)
Class  
Level  Special
-----  -----------
  1    Hexblade's curse 1/day
  2    Arcane resistance
  3    Mettle
  4    Summon familiar
  5    Bonus feat, hexblade's curse 2/day
  6    --
  7    Greater hexblade's curse
  8    Sneak attack +1d6
  9    Hexblade's curse 3/day
 10    Aura of unluck 1/day, bonus feat
 11    --
 12    Sneak attack +2d6
 13    Hexblade's curse 4/day
 14    Aura of unlcuk 2/day
 15    Bonus feat
 16    Sneak attack +3d6
 17    Hexblade's curse 5/day
 18    Aura of unluck 3/day
 19    Dire hexblade's curse
 20    Sneak attack +4d6, bonus feat

Basically, the hexblade gets his aura of unluck ability, and additional uses of it, two levels earlier (at 10th instead of 12th level), and a gradual sneak attack progression at high level. In addition, we can make the hexblade's curse abilities beefier, like so (changes are boldfaced):

Hexblade's Curse (Su): Once per day, as a swift action, a hexblade can unleash a curse upon a foe. The target must be visible to the hexblade and within 60 feet. The target of a hexblade's curse takes a -4 penalty on attacks, saves, ability checks, and weapon damage rolls, for 1 hour thereafter, and is stunned for one round by the sheer profane force of the curse. A successful Will save (DC 10 + half the hexblade's level + the hexblade's Charisma modifier) halves the penalties and negates the stunning effect.
At every four levels beyond 1st (5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th), a hexblade gains the ability to use his curse one additional time per day. Multiple hexblade's curses don't stack, and any character that successfully saves against the curse cannot be targeted by it again for the next hour.
Any effect that removes or dispels a curse eliminates the effect of a hexblade's curse.

Greater Hexblade's Curse (Su): When a hexblade attains 7th level, the penalty to attacks, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls incurred by a target of the hexblade's curse becomes -8 instead of -4. A successful save still halves these penalties.

Dire Hexblade's Curse (Su): When a hexblade attains 19th level, the penalty to attacks, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls incurred by a target of the hexblade's curse becomes -12 instead of -8. A successful save still halves these penalties.

Essentially, the curse ability is now made significantly more powerful: targets are stunned and suffer very large penalties if they fail their saving throw, and suffer more or less the original penalties described in Complete Warrior if they make their saves. This brings the hexblade's ability in line with, say, the barbarian's rage -- a hexblade is always able to pick an opponent and make him less effective, in the same way a barbarian is always able to make himself more effective, and very much so if the foe fails his save. (A 19th level hexblade's dire curse might as well be a save or die effect.)

The overall picture should be of a nasty, opportunistic fighter who works well in groups, thanks to his curse (which is a great support ability) and his sneak attacks. The sneak attack and curse ability is partly meant to create more interesting tactical problems for a hexblade -- do you curse an opponent at the outset of a fight, possibly helping allied spellcasters and weakening throughout the combat, or do you wait until you close to melee, so you can sneak attack him if you stun him?

Tell me what you think. I'm particularly interested in the affect that the empowered curse has on the save penalties -- a hexblade can give an enemy huge saving throw penalties if the target fails its save, and still very significant ones if he makes it (especially at high levels). Is this too nasty?

 

[dagger]

There was an Dragon article that had a bunch of feats just for the Hexblade I think...

 

[Bront]

Underpowered? I've generaly seen them to be a tiny bit overpowered.

 

[dagger]

I have seen 2 hexblades, one played to 8th, and the other is 13th, they both don't do much. They are borderline underpowered, but clearly lacking in fun.

 

[RisnDevil]

As a whole, I think the changes are ok. The direction you went with hexing is the opposite of what I am working on though. You see, to me, the curse seems to be the Hexblades schtick, and he gets it only several times a day. I was thinking of reducing the penalty by a pretty significant amount, but giving him many more uses per day (possibly unlimited, similar to the Warlock's Eldritch Blast). Your way would work fine as well though, and make the high-level Hexblade much more of a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Dog Moon]

Out of curiosity, does the Hexblade really need improvement, or does it just needs a little support in the way of PrCs, spells, feats, and/or items?

 

[Machiavelli]

While I do (really very much) like what you've done with the Hexblade's Curse, raoul, I think Dog Moon nailed it: the Hexblade's bonus feats, small reserve of spells, and useful-but-weak special abilities would lend themselves nicely to a variety of enhancement feats and spells specific to the Hexblade. Some ideas:
*Some sort of metamagic feats that eat Curse uses, like Divine Metamagic eats turn undead attempts.
*A feat for extra Curse uses.
*A feat for delivering a Curse in a successful melee attack.
*A spell or two with a distinct Hexblade flavor, unique to the class (I'm terrible at making up spells on the fly, or I'd offer a suggestion)

The sneak attack seems uneccessary, by the way. I've always been a fan of the ability, but I don't think it's a good fit for most classes, ESPECIALLY base classes.

 

[Seeten]

Dog Moon:

The Hexblade's Schtick is now totally stolen by the Duskblade who does it totally better, with the sole exception of the curse. The curse is 1/day at low level, and doesnt have a great DC, so 1/day you can fail to be useful, and aside from that, you are full bab d10 light armor wearing guy.

Duskblade casts from 1st level, can cast in heavy armor, gets d8 hp and full bab, and has real spells, real fast. They have a myriad of potent arcane abilities, which fully eclipse the hexblades limited abilities and very limited casting.

Basically, I think Hexblade is desperate for a powerup.

I'd give the first sneak attack around 4th level, though, as thats where they have begun to hurt, give the dark companion instead of familiar by default, and increase the sneak at 8, 12, 16, and 20, giving 5d6 sneak at 20th level.

One thing to note is that will allow Hexblade to slip into some prestige classes with the sneak that might be ... imba, so be careful.