Hiro Quester
2021-07-16, 03:24 PM
Starting a new campaign in a month or two. Want a smiting frontline caster with a sword.
My latest plan is two levels of Paladin, then Hexblade and Sorcerer. Half elf (for elven accuracy), sword and board, heavy armor. Elven Accuracy, Warcaster and Lucky feats. 15, 8, 15, 8, 8, 15. So 16 str, 16 Con, 17 Cha to start. Warcaster and ASi to Max CHA.
Two levels of paladin gets some low-level spells, heavy armor, fighting style, and divine smite.(Another player is planning a pure Paladin of Conquest, so I'm not going deeper into Paladin, even though Paladin 6 is awesome. He can have the auras.).
The idea would be to be a frontline smite-fighter and caster, who can pull out a huge nova hit when needed. Use Elven Accuracy and sometimes Lucky to make crits more likely, and when I crit, unload Divine Smite, Eldrich Smite, or both (for the BBG), as well as a Concentration Smite spell like Banishing Smite if I plan it right.
I'd sneak in two levels of Grave Cleric, for at will using an action to causing an opponent to be vulnerable to all damage in the next round, then unloading a quickened Booming Blade advantaged lucky (hopefully crit) triple-smite (Divine, Eldrich, and Banishing) on the Big Bad. But that seems too min-maxing for our table.
So Paladin 2 / Hexblade 5+ / Sorcerer X
How much Hexblade and Sorcerer?
Hexblade 5 gets Thirsting Blade, Eldrich Smite and Improved Pact Weapon. As well as the usual Hexblade goodies that folks dip Hexblade for. and two 3rd level spell slots that refresh on a short rest.
And that leaves room for Sorcerer 13. up to 7th level spells. More casting options, for BFC, buffing and rebuffing; rather than just smiting. Would save smiting for Nova situations.
Hexblade 10 Gets Armor of Hexes (50% miss chance) and 2 5th level Spell slots that refresh on a Short Rest. Plus Banishing Smite.
But that pairs with Sorc 8. Only up to 4th level spells, which isn't nothing.
Hexblade 12 gets Lifedrinker (+CHA damage to every hit) and a few other invocations. Plus a 6th level Mystic Incarnum spell. and 3 5th level spell slots on a short rest.
But only leaves room for Sorcerer 6 (which gives a good range of lower levels spells and spell-slots for minor smites, shield, etc.).
My initial preference is for more casting Pal2/Hex5/Sorc13. But on a character that will hit things a lot, Hexblade 12's lifedrinker can make a huge difference.
Are there other breakpoints that are potentially worth considering?
Which Sorcerous Origin?
Im thinking of playing him as a chaotic good bard-like romantic storytelling Glory-hungry Paladin who worships the goddess of love and fertility, and wants nothing more than to be the hero of a great saga in the service of love and freedom.
At least initially. But he gets tempted to the "dark side" making a pact for more power and glory.
So his Chaotic Good gets tempered by some flashes of Chaotic Evil. (Normally a champion of freedom and love and creativity, but roll a d20 at decision points, and if it rolls lower than the number of Warlock levels he has, he is pulled towards anger and nihilism; "Life is pain, and death comes for us all; Murder them all".)
Being a Hexblade in a pact with a weapon from the Shadowfell, Shadow Magic Sorcerer seems thematically consistent. But that leans perhaps too heavily into the darkness. I don't want to go full Emo here. And the "I can see in my Darkness spell" thing I'd already decided to avoid as a Hexblade.
Leaning into the Chaos would be Wild Magic Sorcerer. The sheer randomness of wild magic leans into the idea of messing with powers that are not entirely under his control.
Plus the chance of awesome arcane power by accident, but with the risk of turning yourself into a sheep or a potted plant, or casting grease, confusion or fireball centered on yourself, seem opportunities for inserting comedy weirdness and risk into the game. Could be fun.
And mechanically, being able to take advantage whenever I need to (at the cost of a wild magic possibility) seems useful for a critical-smite chance (with Lucky and Elven Accuracy meaning I could roll 4 d20s and pick the best for an attack roll).
But the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer could also be used here. The pact drives him a little off-kilter. The neat thing here is the expanded spells known list, and the abilty to switch them out for divination and enchantment spells from wizard and warlock lists.
The Telepathy is nice. And the psionic ability to cast an enchantment as though I used subtle spell is also helpful out of combat. But the expanded spells known (11 extra spells known) seems pretty huge.
Clockwork Soul seems mechanically nice, since it also gets 10 extra spells known, and especially because you can swap the bonus spells known for abjuration or transmutation spells. And that includes the Warlock's abjuration Smites (semi-debatably). And awesome BFCs like Wall of Force.
But that would require a way to role-play being torn between order and chaos. Being torn between well-meaning impulsivity and destructive impulsivity, all in the service of glory and freedom, seems easier to play.
I can't quite see a good story to tell about how the chaos and darkness of Hexblade might work with the elite manifestation of orderliness, from a mechanics, roleplaying or story perspective. I hope this is a failure of imagination, and y'all can help me find a way to justify this. (I'd probably need a non-deficit intelligence score, though.)
Still Wild Magic seems fun (and potentially funny). I think that or aberrant mind are my default favorites.
Has anyone any advice or relevant experience to help me make up my indecisive mind here?
My latest plan is two levels of Paladin, then Hexblade and Sorcerer. Half elf (for elven accuracy), sword and board, heavy armor. Elven Accuracy, Warcaster and Lucky feats. 15, 8, 15, 8, 8, 15. So 16 str, 16 Con, 17 Cha to start. Warcaster and ASi to Max CHA.
Two levels of paladin gets some low-level spells, heavy armor, fighting style, and divine smite.(Another player is planning a pure Paladin of Conquest, so I'm not going deeper into Paladin, even though Paladin 6 is awesome. He can have the auras.).
The idea would be to be a frontline smite-fighter and caster, who can pull out a huge nova hit when needed. Use Elven Accuracy and sometimes Lucky to make crits more likely, and when I crit, unload Divine Smite, Eldrich Smite, or both (for the BBG), as well as a Concentration Smite spell like Banishing Smite if I plan it right.
I'd sneak in two levels of Grave Cleric, for at will using an action to causing an opponent to be vulnerable to all damage in the next round, then unloading a quickened Booming Blade advantaged lucky (hopefully crit) triple-smite (Divine, Eldrich, and Banishing) on the Big Bad. But that seems too min-maxing for our table.
So Paladin 2 / Hexblade 5+ / Sorcerer X
How much Hexblade and Sorcerer?
Hexblade 5 gets Thirsting Blade, Eldrich Smite and Improved Pact Weapon. As well as the usual Hexblade goodies that folks dip Hexblade for. and two 3rd level spell slots that refresh on a short rest.
And that leaves room for Sorcerer 13. up to 7th level spells. More casting options, for BFC, buffing and rebuffing; rather than just smiting. Would save smiting for Nova situations.
Hexblade 10 Gets Armor of Hexes (50% miss chance) and 2 5th level Spell slots that refresh on a Short Rest. Plus Banishing Smite.
But that pairs with Sorc 8. Only up to 4th level spells, which isn't nothing.
Hexblade 12 gets Lifedrinker (+CHA damage to every hit) and a few other invocations. Plus a 6th level Mystic Incarnum spell. and 3 5th level spell slots on a short rest.
But only leaves room for Sorcerer 6 (which gives a good range of lower levels spells and spell-slots for minor smites, shield, etc.).
My initial preference is for more casting Pal2/Hex5/Sorc13. But on a character that will hit things a lot, Hexblade 12's lifedrinker can make a huge difference.
Are there other breakpoints that are potentially worth considering?
Which Sorcerous Origin?
Im thinking of playing him as a chaotic good bard-like romantic storytelling Glory-hungry Paladin who worships the goddess of love and fertility, and wants nothing more than to be the hero of a great saga in the service of love and freedom.
At least initially. But he gets tempted to the "dark side" making a pact for more power and glory.
So his Chaotic Good gets tempered by some flashes of Chaotic Evil. (Normally a champion of freedom and love and creativity, but roll a d20 at decision points, and if it rolls lower than the number of Warlock levels he has, he is pulled towards anger and nihilism; "Life is pain, and death comes for us all; Murder them all".)
Being a Hexblade in a pact with a weapon from the Shadowfell, Shadow Magic Sorcerer seems thematically consistent. But that leans perhaps too heavily into the darkness. I don't want to go full Emo here. And the "I can see in my Darkness spell" thing I'd already decided to avoid as a Hexblade.
Leaning into the Chaos would be Wild Magic Sorcerer. The sheer randomness of wild magic leans into the idea of messing with powers that are not entirely under his control.
Plus the chance of awesome arcane power by accident, but with the risk of turning yourself into a sheep or a potted plant, or casting grease, confusion or fireball centered on yourself, seem opportunities for inserting comedy weirdness and risk into the game. Could be fun.
And mechanically, being able to take advantage whenever I need to (at the cost of a wild magic possibility) seems useful for a critical-smite chance (with Lucky and Elven Accuracy meaning I could roll 4 d20s and pick the best for an attack roll).
But the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer could also be used here. The pact drives him a little off-kilter. The neat thing here is the expanded spells known list, and the abilty to switch them out for divination and enchantment spells from wizard and warlock lists.
The Telepathy is nice. And the psionic ability to cast an enchantment as though I used subtle spell is also helpful out of combat. But the expanded spells known (11 extra spells known) seems pretty huge.
Clockwork Soul seems mechanically nice, since it also gets 10 extra spells known, and especially because you can swap the bonus spells known for abjuration or transmutation spells. And that includes the Warlock's abjuration Smites (semi-debatably). And awesome BFCs like Wall of Force.
But that would require a way to role-play being torn between order and chaos. Being torn between well-meaning impulsivity and destructive impulsivity, all in the service of glory and freedom, seems easier to play.
I can't quite see a good story to tell about how the chaos and darkness of Hexblade might work with the elite manifestation of orderliness, from a mechanics, roleplaying or story perspective. I hope this is a failure of imagination, and y'all can help me find a way to justify this. (I'd probably need a non-deficit intelligence score, though.)
Still Wild Magic seems fun (and potentially funny). I think that or aberrant mind are my default favorites.
Has anyone any advice or relevant experience to help me make up my indecisive mind here?