D&D 4E Revised 4e Bladesinger

[Manbearcat]

Given the general unhappiness over the class, I figured I'd copy/paste this right quick for folks who might be interested in running a revised version of this form of the classic Gish (F/M) class. Couple things on design approach right quick.

Longterm player in my group (and friend) has always been a fan of this archetype. He's a big Star Wars fan and its "Jediness" appealed to him greatly. When 4e came about, we created it initially through a re-skinning of the Ranger, then a re-skinning of the Twinclaw Barbarian, then a re-skin of the Monk (which worked very, very well both flavor-wise and mechanically). When the 4e iteration of the Bladesinger came out it hit on a lot of the flavor of the class but it did have some holes; lack of proper scaling, lack of role focus and potency, big M(age) and small F(ighter) especially as the class progresses.

The campaign was Epic level at that point and it was quite clear, at a simple glance that the class would not remotely be able to hold up as an Epic level (or Paragon level) controller. Certainly it wouldn't be able to even come close to the Wizard as so much of the Wizard's potency is bound up in powerful action denial/status effects and battlefield manipulation with zones and terrain. This primarily (but not exclusively) comes from Wizard's Daily Attack Spells. Without those, the Bladesinger would not be sufficient in that role. However, the class was clearly not constructed from a top down (role-first) approach. Clearly it is a confluence of very survivable Striker, Skirmisher with a minor in Controller. Playtesting it, it performed like a slightly less damaging Monk. A Monk's melee control and Skirmishing capabilities (which effectively gives it some fine ranged control) are quite good (especially with the way FoB scales) so the edge in "minor in Controller" shared by the two is debatable. The Bladesinger's is more versatile (with the ranged functionality) but as a straight melee Controller, the Monk edges it out. Both are quite survivable out of the box and with the right Utility Powers chosen. The Bladesinger's access to powerful Wizard Utility Spells (for control, mobility and defense) aids the class tremendously to those ends.

For the class to be a respectable Controller you really have to bend it and contort it, distorting the color/finish via feats and multi-classing (and basically ignore Dex). So what did we want to do?

- Focus it more on the Striker role and amp up the melee Control a la Monk.
- Bring the F(ighter) up and bring the M(age) down a bit.
- Give it more consistent power at the Encounter level, specifically tied to combining swordplay and spellcasting (Spellsong - changed from Arcane Strike).
- Make Dexterity a more functional part of the class.
- Detach some of the class's overall power structure from the Bladesong power (Steely Riposte changed to basically a 1st level Monk At-Will Rider) such that it isn't just a one-trick pony.
- Scale the class better for more functionality at Paragon and Epic tiers.
- Change out some of the Feature/Power names such that they match flavor-past.
- Removed the Spellbook feature to remove some spellcasting Utility and lower the M as the F was raised.
- Make it user-friendly.

So, we had access to Essentials materials when we put this class to use. As such, it took on a new incarnation using a combination of 3 chassis (Bladesinger, Scout, Hunter) + a little Monk flavor. It plays very much like a combination of a more survivable Scout/Hunter hybrid with some Monk melee-control. It still suffers from lack of a secondary defense (due to the Int/Dex construct). However, it does start off with + 2 Wis (on top of its high Ref due to Int/Dex construct). The Fort deficiency can be overcome with Fighter multi-class and investment in the Stout Shield feat (which provides + 2 shield bonus to Fort due to the Bladesinger's inherent Shield bonus from Guarded Flourish). We re-skinned some class feats to go with the class (as it missed that support, and need it) but I won't include those here. So, without further ado, the revised Bladesinger that we used in our game through Epic tier (yes, you're reading it right...lose Spellbook > No Wizard Encounter and Daily Attack Spells > gain Ritual Caster + a 2nd Wizard At-Will, and keep Bladespells and Utility Magic):

All per WotC products Neverwinter Campaign Setting and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms
*** UTILITY POWER ADVANCEMENT AS PER NORMAL. BLADE MAGIC, BLADESINGER CANTRIPS, BLADESONG, BLADESPELLS, INSTINCTIVE ATTACK, GUARDED FLOURISH, MAGIC MISSLE, BLADESPELL BURST AS PER BLADESINGER CLASS IN NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN SETTING. IMPROVED BLADESONG AS PER BLADESPELL STEP IN SORCEROUS SWORD PRESTIGE CLASS IN NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN SETTING. EPIC BLADESINGER'S SHIFT SAME AS LEVEL 29 SCOUT FEATURE IN HEROES OF THE FORGOTTEN KINGDOMS.

Level 1: BLADE MAGIC, BLADESINGER CANTRIPS, BLADESONG, BLADESPELLS, INSTINCTIVE ATTACK, GUARDED FLOURISH, MAGIC MISSLE, RITUAL CASTER and

SPELLSONG

You gain the Spellsong Utility Power

Spellsong
Through exhaustive training, otherwordly agility and coordination, you have learned to marry the offensive forms of your martial art and the gestures of your attack spells.
Encounter - Arcane, Martial, Weapon
Free Action - Special
Requirement: You must be wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no weapon or shield in the other hand.
Trigger: You cast a Wizard Attack Power on your turn.
Effect: Make a Melee Basic Attack.


Level 2: LEVEL 2 WIZARD UTILITY POWERS

You gain one 2nd level Wizard Utility Power of your choice.


Level 3: IMPROVED SPELLSONG

You gain one more use per encounter of the Spellsong power that you gained at 1st level, but you can still use it only once per turn.

LEVEL 1 WIZARD AT-WILL ATTACK POWER

You learn a second 1st level Wizard At-Will Attack Power of your choice.


Level 5: SONG OF CELERITY

You gain the Song of Celerity Utility Power

Song of Celerity
You move with preternatural speed and grace, leaving your foes with little chance of striking you.
Encounter - Martial
Move Action - Personal
Requirement: You must be wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no weapon or shield in the other hand.
Effect: You shift a number of squares equal to your Dexterity modifier, and you gain a +2 power bonus to all Defenses until the end of your next turn.


Level 6: LEVEL 6 WIZARD UTILITY POWERS

You gain one 6th level Wizard Utility Power of your choice.


Level 7: SONG OF FURY

While wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no weapon or shield in the other hand, once per turn as a free action, you can deal damage equal to your Dexterity modifier to any enemy that enters a square adjacent to you.


Level 9: ARCANE STRIKE

Your Bladespells gain a + 2 to damage when used on an adjacent enemy.


Level 10: LEVEL 10 WIZARD UTILITY POWERS

You gain one 10th level Wizard Utility Power of your choice.


Level 13: IMPROVED SPELLSONG

You gain one more use per encounter of the Spellsong power that you gained at 1st level, but you can still use it only once per turn. In addition, when you hit an enemy with your Melee Basic Attack granted by Spellsong, each enemy adjacent to the target takes damage equal to your Dexterity modifier.


Level 15: PARAGON ARCANE STRIKE

Your Bladespells gain a + 4 to damage when used on an adjacent enemy.


Level 16: LEVEL 16 WIZARD UTILITY POWERS

You gain one 16th level Wizard Utility Power of your choice.


Level 19: IMPROVED BLADESONG

While your Bladesong is active, you can use a move action to shift a number of squares up to your speed.


Level 22: LEVEL 22 WIZARD UTILITY POWERS

You gain one 22nd level Wizard Utility Power of your choice.


Level 23: BLADESPELL BURST

Once per day when you use a Bladespell power against an adjacent enemy, you can use that power against each adjacent enemy.


Level 25: EPIC ARCANE STRIKE

Your Bladespells gain a + 6 to damage when used on an adjacent enemy.


Level 29: EPIC BLADESINGER'S SHIFT

Whenever you shift, you can shift 1 additional square.