Making Corvo / Daude from Dishonored

[Wander]

I've just joined a 4e campaign and have really been stumped as to what to make. I've also been playing the game Dishonored recently, so I was wondering if I could make a character similar to some of the characters in the game.

To anyone who hasn't played the game, the main character Corvo is basically an assassin but with some supernatural powers. He gets them from a being called the Outsider, who grants him his abilities through a mark on his hand. Some of the abilities are:

Blink: A mid-range teleport that can be used frequently

Dark Vision: See things like enemies through walls / See in the dark.

Devouring Swarm: Summons a swarm of rats

Possession: Posses animals and humans, though can only make do basic actions

Bend Time: Slow down time, and eventually stop time

Wind Blast: Can use a powerful gust of wind to attack foes or move objects

Others: There are also some passive abilities such as foes turning to ash when killed, and increased speed, climbing, jumping etc.

The other character Daude possesses pretty much the same abilities, though he has a form of telekinesis and can share some of his powers with allies.

I've been looking for classes that this can translate decently into, and some of ones I'm looking at are: Swordmage, Bladesinger, Avenger, Assassin, Executioner, and Hexblade.

Swordmage seems like it kind of fits, however it being a defender and missing any stealth elements kind of turn me away.

Avenger doesn't seem to fit all that well after I looked closer, but it looked interesting with the religious aspect.

Assassin and executioner both seemed a bit plain, and I'm really not sure about the bladesinger.

So far hexblade looks like the best fit. The class gets their powers from a supernatural source, seems like it could work with stealth, and some of the abilities seem pretty fitting.

Does anyone have any other tips or recommendations as to how I can make this work? I'm new to 4e and not looking to make anything super optimized, I just want a concept that's not unplayable and that I will enjoy.

[Dihan]

Monk could work. They get some fun movement techniques that would fit what Corvo can do. If you go for an Iron Soul Monk then you can use any weapon you're proficient in as an implement for your attacks and get a nice defensive bonus. They're not the best at dealing damage to single targets though. In 4e Monks are lumped together with the other Psionic classes, though they don't use the power point system at all.

[Epinephrine]

I wouldn't worry too much about fitting stealth into the character concept from the class; you can achieve solid stealth as a paladin if you want to. A Background can add stealth as a class skill and grant a +1 bonus, if you already have stealth as a class skill you can choose to get a +2 bonus from a background. Themes can add stealth-like abilities, I like the Unseelie Agent theme for some of what you describe; the level 2 power swap is an encounter darkvision, and the level 6 (IIRC) is an invisibility.

I think a warlock or hexblade sounds like a good fit, really.

[Tegu8788]

Thematically, I suspect that the Hexblade will be your best bet, drawing heavily from Warlock and Binder powers.

Blink: There are plenty of ways to get teleportation. Most aren't very far until you level up a bit or boost with items.

Dark Vision: Through walls is tough, but it's easy to pick up the ability to see in the dark from a number of races.

Devouring Swarm: In 4E, refluffing is the name of the game. Find a burst or blast spell, and just say you've summoned a swarm of rats.

Possession: The term you are looking for is Dominate, and that's a higher level power, as it's very powerful.

Bend Time: This is unlikely to be found, except possibly using powers/items/feats that allow you to reduce action cost for things, or sustain things for free.

Wind Blast: Find a power that Pushes or Slides, and say it's a gust of wind. Refluffing is your friend.

Others: If by increased speed you mean moving quicker, there are a number of powers that increase how far you can move. Wall climbing can be acquired a number of ways, and increases to Athletics (Str) skill will boost jumping. Turning enemies to ash, I've got nothing.


I think, if you are allows to retrain Hexblade powers into Warlock powers you can get what you want, or a Swordmage|Warlock could do a pretty good job.

[Wander]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I'm leaning towards a hexblade so far, although swordmage / warlock seems interesting as well. For the pact I was thinking Feyblade, they seem to get a lot of cool teleport abilities and have good mobility. Starblade looks kind of cool, but I'm not sure how good it is.

One thing I was wondering is what does a hexblade use in it's offhand? I'd rather not use a rod or wand or anything, is it viable to just keep my offhand empty?

[Epinephrine]

One thing I was wondering is what does a hexblade use in it's offhand? I'd rather not use a rod or wand or anything, is it viable to just keep my offhand empty?

Swordmages have a good incentive to keep an empty hand, but hexblades must have an implement in the other hand: "While you hold your implement in one hand, you can use a minor action to manifest your pact weapon in the other hand. The pact weapon you create depends on your pact. Your pact weapon persists until you no longer hold either it or the implement, or until you dismiss it as a free action."

So you must have an implement as a hexblade. On the positive side, you can easily get Dual Implement Spellcaster to bump your damage up by using a Pact blade as your implement.
That said, you can fluff it away, as long as you keep all the important bits - your hand is occupied, and you must own an implement to grant bonuses to the pact blade you generate.

[thatSeniorGuy]

You can always pretend that you're holding the Heart in the other hand! :smallbiggrin:

(Also I posted in the duplicate thread of this and put in my support for Warlock, but Tegu's already said most of what I said. I'd just point out that warlocks get an at-will teleport at level 10, in addition to having loads of other teleportation options.)