Character build

[thetoastyturtle]

I thought I'd do a rehash of an old character concept I had when I first started playing the game. He's a neutral evil half-fiend designed with that whole spaghetti western lonely antihero concept going on. We're a pretty roleplay-oriented bunch, but I have an underlying powergaming itch I've never scratched so I thought it might be a good idea to start by asking the advice of some folks with a great deal more optimization experience than me. That being said, the DM allows the use of the following 3.5 sourcebooks:

PH, MM, DMG, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Champions of Ruin, Champions of Valor, Complete Warrior, Underdark, Races of Faerun, and the weaponmaster class from NWN2.

My current build idea is...

3 hexblade/6 fighter/1 barbarian/7 weaponmaster/3 blackguard

with a focus on high strength and charisma scores and scythe usage.

Thoughts and criticism appreciated.

-Toast

[Keld Denar]

Well, Weaponmaster is pretty bad. It requires a TON of feat and its abilities are rather weak. If you want to focus more on Cha and Str with a debuff focus, try something like this:

Hex4/Barb1/Fighter2/Blackguard10

Hexblade4 is awesome because it gets you the PHBII Alt Class Feature that is a walking -2 AC and Saves. Barbarian gets you Rage and Pounce, using the Complete Champion ACF.

Feats you'll want are Dreadful Wrath (FRCS), Power Attack, Cleave, Imp Sunder (Prereq for Blackguard), Imperious Command (DotUD), Law Devotion (CChampion), Craven (Champions of Ruin) and maybe Ability Focus: Hex.

You'll get Cha to saves, twice vs spells, you'll give a -2 penalty to foes just by standing near them, you're Dark Companion will give another -2, you'll have the ability to demoralize foes effectively when you charge and attack.

If you have access to Tome of Magic, you can actually tack on a level or so of Binder and swap out any of the Blackguard levels after 4 for Knight of the Sacred Chalise. This allows you to bind Foculor, for another -2 to AC and Saves penalty aura.

So, if you move your Dark Companion over a foe and then charge them, they will get -2 from Blackguard, -2 from Binder, -2 from Dark Companion, -2 from being Shaken, and -2 from Hex, or -10 to AC and Saves, and a -6 to hit you back. That means you can effectively PA for a nice number while charging, and your allies can follow up your attack with a nice save or die effect because your foe is sooooooo debuffed.

Does this sound interesting?

[thetoastyturtle]

Yeah, that sounds really awesome! It fits the character concept from the roleplay standpoint better than the other build as well. Now I need to figure out what to do with his last 3 levels...

Thanks for your help!

[Keld Denar]

Can you get Binder from ToB? That would be a great addition to the build, just like I said. Plus, Binders are FREAKING AWESOME!

[mabriss lethe]

Seconding, if you want to go Hexblade, you need to at least take it to level 4. The Dark Companion ACF is one of the best things they get. ranged no save debuff. Also look up the semi-official hexblade fix, or someone better acquainted with it can post a link.

If you're going to rely on the hexblade curse, do everything you can to boost its save dc. hexbands from the Magic Item Compendium, are a must (boosts save dc by 1 and lets you add your cha bonus to weapon damage against cursed targets.) Ability focus, also a must. Cloak of Charisma. you know the drill. You may also, not want to leave hexblade for a while. (since the curse's power increases over levels and the save increases 1/2 hexblade levels.)

What you have to keep in mind about the hexblade is that it doesn't look terribly effective on paper, but it doesn't really have to be all that great. Its job is to do everything it can to make enemies worse than it. You play best as the "wizard's assistant" once the tanks have the big nasty's attention, you roll in, chew up its saves and wash them down with a nice cold glass of hate. Then the wizard can lob off his big-nasty with very little fear of the creature making its save. You and the tanks mop up and everyone has cake and icecream.

Start your debuffs using things that don't have saves. Make use of spells like touch of idiocy ( via your own resources or via wand) combined with the dark companion for a nasty opening gambit, then hit them with the hexblade curse. as soon as you can afford it, think about a cursespewing weapon. (and see if your dm will allow the old cursespewing version from BoVD instead of the one printed in MiC. It's much more useful.)

a few levels of binder (for Focalor's aura of sadness) or blackguard/paladin of tyranny would also be a good investment since it adds to your list of no save debuffs. (also for the expanded spell list to wand or cast from.)

[dspeyer]

Do remember that half-fiends are la4. I'm guessing this campaign isn't epic.

[thetoastyturtle]

I'll make sure to look into Binder; it sounds really interesting. It would be an interesting addition to his story, too. Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!

The DM runs things a lot more RP-oriented than optimized. There are two other templated characters, so I thought now would be a good time to bring this character concept back. The LA isn't going to compromize the effectiveness of the character in *this* particular campaign.

[thetoastyturtle]

Update: The build now stands at binder 5/blackguard 5/ barbarian 1/ hexblade 4

Blackguard 5 gets me divine shield, aura of despair, and a fiendish horse for roleplay fluff. Binder 5 gets me Focular, and barbarian nets me rage and pounce. Now, the conundrum: Do I dump the remaining 5 levels into hexblade to try and pump the Curse DC and get two extra uses, or do I invest in another class?

[Myrmex]

I would recommend taking the first level in barb for two more HP, 8 more skills, and earlier access to better class skills.

Also, check out the Whirling Frenzy rage variant- it gets you another attack and better AC, but lose the bonus to will. Your saves should already be good, thanks to hexblade & blackguard.

[Keld Denar]

Another idea would be to nab some levels in Tenbrous Apostate. It advances Divine Casting (Blackguard) and Binding 4/5 each. You'd have to bind Tenbrous instead of Focalor until you are powerful enough to bind 2 vestages at once. I don't think Improved Binding will help you here.

Another option would be to skip the Binder levels altogether and pick up Focalor via a 2 feat investment in Bind Vestage + Improved Bind Vestage. That might be too much of a feat investment though, given that you need the prereqs for Blackguard and a bunch of other vital feets. Don't neglect Dreadful Wrath or Craven, as both to a TON for your effectiveness. Dreadful Wrath can only be taken at 1st level.

[thetoastyturtle]

Alright, I think I finally figured this thing out. I looked into the paladin variants, as suggested, and paladin of tyranny kicks the snot out of blackguard.

The build: paladin of tyranny 15/ hexblade 4/ barbarian 1

with feats Dreadful Wrath, Imperious Command, Power Attack, Divine Shield, Law Devotion, Divine Might, and Bind Vestige and Improved Bind Vestige for Focalor's aura.

He'll have some ridiculous saves, especially vs spells, and all of the debuffs I was aiming for. The downside is that hex's DC will be weak, but such is the sacrifice for not wanting to be stuck with more than 4 levels of hexblade.

Thanks again for all of your help! You guys are great.