Nicrosil
2017-11-13, 01:46 PM
So Xanathar's Guide to Everything is here, and with it is one of the most divisive subclasses of 5th edition: the Hexblade. Whether you think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, or that it's an awkward patch to the Blade Pact, I think we can all agree on one thing.
The fluff's pretty weird.
For those who don't have the book and haven't read it elsewhere, here's how the fluff goes: your Patron is a entity from the Shadowfell that makes powerful weapons and spreads them across the multiverse, like Blackrazor. You don't get one of these weapons, but instead learn to make one like it, maybe. Oh, and your Patron is defiantly not the Raven Queen wink wink nudge nudge.
Compared to the other Patrons, that's really specific. Think about it this way, it would be really hard to give a general concept to a brand new player. Demons, angels, undead, everyone's heard of them. Archfey and Great Old Ones are a bit weirder, but there's still plenty of examples in mainstream culture. And then there's the Hexblade. Your Patron is the Raven Queen from the Shadowfell who makes powerful weapons like the Blackrazor. Who from the what makes the whatnow? Plus, what if I want to play a Pact of the Chain Hexblade? Or a Pact of the Tome? Magic sword making doesn't really apply there.
So, the point of this topic is to come up with some alternate Patrons for the Hexblade, in the way, say, Demogorgon and Asmodeus are both potential fiendish Patrons despite being very different entities. What examples from D&D lore or other fiction can I draw on when making a Hexblade?
So, an obvious idea is making your Patron a sentient magic item. Your Patron is an established artifact, like Blackrazor or the Sun Sword or Excalibur, or the Book of Vile Deeds or the Necronomicon for Tome Pacts. Over the course of your career you forge a weapon or write a tome that emulates them; perhaps one day you become worthy enough to wield your Patron yourself. An alternate explanation is that your Patron is your sword or book right out of the gate, and as you grow stronger it becomes more and more powerful as well. Of course, this doesn't work so well for Chain Pacts...
Another idea is to theme the class around shadows and shadowy powers. There are tons of shadow based classes and prestige classes from older editions, so there is precedent for shadow based magic in D&D. From media, we have Doctor Facilier from the Princess and the Frog, Raven from Teen Titans, Midna from Legend of Zelda, any ghost or dark type Pokémon, and more. These can all be examples of Hexblade warlocks. Problem with this one is that while individual Hexblades can be very different, we still don't have any examples of Patrons...
What alternate Hexblade Patrons have you guys come up with?
The fluff's pretty weird.
For those who don't have the book and haven't read it elsewhere, here's how the fluff goes: your Patron is a entity from the Shadowfell that makes powerful weapons and spreads them across the multiverse, like Blackrazor. You don't get one of these weapons, but instead learn to make one like it, maybe. Oh, and your Patron is defiantly not the Raven Queen wink wink nudge nudge.
Compared to the other Patrons, that's really specific. Think about it this way, it would be really hard to give a general concept to a brand new player. Demons, angels, undead, everyone's heard of them. Archfey and Great Old Ones are a bit weirder, but there's still plenty of examples in mainstream culture. And then there's the Hexblade. Your Patron is the Raven Queen from the Shadowfell who makes powerful weapons like the Blackrazor. Who from the what makes the whatnow? Plus, what if I want to play a Pact of the Chain Hexblade? Or a Pact of the Tome? Magic sword making doesn't really apply there.
So, the point of this topic is to come up with some alternate Patrons for the Hexblade, in the way, say, Demogorgon and Asmodeus are both potential fiendish Patrons despite being very different entities. What examples from D&D lore or other fiction can I draw on when making a Hexblade?
So, an obvious idea is making your Patron a sentient magic item. Your Patron is an established artifact, like Blackrazor or the Sun Sword or Excalibur, or the Book of Vile Deeds or the Necronomicon for Tome Pacts. Over the course of your career you forge a weapon or write a tome that emulates them; perhaps one day you become worthy enough to wield your Patron yourself. An alternate explanation is that your Patron is your sword or book right out of the gate, and as you grow stronger it becomes more and more powerful as well. Of course, this doesn't work so well for Chain Pacts...
Another idea is to theme the class around shadows and shadowy powers. There are tons of shadow based classes and prestige classes from older editions, so there is precedent for shadow based magic in D&D. From media, we have Doctor Facilier from the Princess and the Frog, Raven from Teen Titans, Midna from Legend of Zelda, any ghost or dark type Pokémon, and more. These can all be examples of Hexblade warlocks. Problem with this one is that while individual Hexblades can be very different, we still don't have any examples of Patrons...
What alternate Hexblade Patrons have you guys come up with?