Help me make my players awesomer

[ChudoJogurt]

Hi all,

Despite my best attempts to keep the game Tier 3, I currently have a level 7 party, consisting of a Beguiler 5/MoO 2, Crusader, Ninja and Hexblade (w. Internet Errata). All freshly generated with their lvl 7 WBL equipment.
In addition, the Hexblade, who is a charge build (Combat Brute + Leap Attack) has stated that he intends to go into a Blacguard prestige class as soon as campaign allows, which should be at about level 9.

My fear is that Beguiler and Crusader will significantly outshine the other two. What sort of equipment, obscure feats, unusual ACFs etc I can try to let the Ninja and Hexblade characters obtain in order for them to keep up with the Tier-3 expectation of the game?
Or are my fears unfounded and this party should be well-enough balanced?

[daremetoidareyo]

Hi all,

Despite my best attempts to keep the game Tier 3, I currently have a level 7 party, consisting of a Beguiler 5/MoO 2, Crusader, Ninja and Hexblade (w. Internet Errata). All freshly generated with their lvl 7 WBL equipment.
In addition, the Hexblade, who is a charge build (Combat Brute + Leap Attack) has stated that he intends to go into a Blacguard prestige class as soon as campaign allows, which should be at about level 9.

My fear is that Beguiler and Crusader will significantly outshine the other two. What sort of equipment, obscure feats, unusual ACFs etc I can try to let the Ninja and Hexblade characters obtain in order for them to keep up with the Tier-3 expectation of the game?
Or are my fears unfounded and this party should be well-enough balanced?

Put full BAB on the ninja.

Put bard casting on the hexblade and add the duskblade spell list to it, every 4 levels let them choose a necromancy, divination, or abjuration spell from any list at a spell level they can cast in place of one of those duskblade spells. Throw a few rider effects on a hexblade curse by using it as a standard action, like being slowed or blinded for a round or 1d3. Around level 12 upgrade it to confusion.

[Godskook]

Hi all,

Despite my best attempts to keep the game Tier 3, I currently have a level 7 party, consisting of a Beguiler 5/MoO 2, Crusader, Ninja and Hexblade (w. Internet Errata). All freshly generated with their lvl 7 WBL equipment.
In addition, the Hexblade, who is a charge build (Combat Brute + Leap Attack) has stated that he intends to go into a Blacguard prestige class as soon as campaign allows, which should be at about level 9.

My fear is that Beguiler and Crusader will significantly outshine the other two. What sort of equipment, obscure feats, unusual ACFs etc I can try to let the Ninja and Hexblade characters obtain in order for them to keep up with the Tier-3 expectation of the game?
Or are my fears unfounded and this party should be well-enough balanced?

Depends on optimization levels, but for most normal people, the tier list really starts to break things when you get 4+ tiers showing at the same time. You've got 3, depending on what prestige class MoO is.(I can't recall which that is? I assume it's not Mage of the Arcane Order?)

Mike Mearls' opinion on Hexblade(authoratative based on his having helped make it, but not official):


The hexblade suffers a little because he came on the scene relatively early in 3.5's life. As R&D pushes the boundaries of the game, we learn that some things we thought were risky or potentially broken aren't. Other times, we learn things that look fine don't actually work in play. Armored mages fall into the first category. Them seem really powerful, but in the long run they aren't. Spells and magic items allow an unarmored mage to build great defenses. The spell mage armor is as good as medium armor, and its duration allows most mages to keep it active at all times. If you compare the hexblade to the duskblade from PH 2, you can see how the thinking has changed. If you want to boost the hexblade, I'd try the following changes:

Good Fortitude save

Curse ability usable 1 + the hexblade's Cha modifier per day

Curse ability usable as a swift action

Curse ability does not count as used if the target makes his saving throw

Ability to cast in light or medium armor and while carrying a light shield or buckler

At 6th level, the hexblade can cast one hexblade spell per day as a swift action, as long as its original casting time is a standard action or faster. He gains an additional use of this power at levels 8, 11, 14, and 18.


Some additional things you can do if you find that the Ninja and Hexblade are falling behind slightly:

1.Give the Hexblade access to Whirling Blade as a 1st level spell using Hexblade casting. It's a small buff to their ranged capabilities and is quite thematic.

2.Give the Ninja better access to their ki points. The per-day offering is rather constricting, so adding additional uses will help them keep up in a way that's thematic for their class.

3.Let Blackguard progress Hexblade casting instead, adding the blackgaurd list to their own.

4.Make Smite per-encounter instead of per-day.


But mostly, I'd just wait and see how the table plays out. I've seen Wizards and Druids fail to be useful alongside Fighters before, so you need to see how the players work before getting too drastic with it.

[ChudoJogurt]

@PMGodskook, yeah, that thing is what I meant by the "Internet Errata" for the Hexblade. We're definitely using that.
And yes, MoO was shorthand for the Mage of the Arcane Order.

As to your other points, those are actually great ideas, I'm definitely using them. Maybe even going Blackguard will just straight up turn his Hexblade spells Divine as well as continuing their progression, to enable the heavy armor, and maybe some Divine Metamagic tricks.

Is there any good authority as to how many ki-points would be a more reasonable number for the ninja?