Turning the Hexblade "Patron" into modular powers

[Segev]

Note: This is a second version of the design. I'll put the first version in a spoilerbox for posterity.

The Hexblade is a weird design, both in fluff and crunch. It is fairly clearly meant to complement the Pact of the Blade, as it is a bit clumsy when combined with any of the others. And while it can be made to work, the notion of "sentient weapons" as a Warlock Patron is a bit weird in and of itself. It is likely that its clear complementary status is meant to be a kind of salvation for the Pact of the Blade not working quite right due to pulling the Warlock towards melee when he clearly isn't designed for it.

In addition, a couple of the abilities feel more like "crap, Patrons need something at this level; what do we give this one?" than solid thematic links.

Thus, I have decided to try my hand at remodeling things to make additions to the Warlock class that allow you to choose a Patron other than a sentient weapon and still be able to fully use PAct of the Blade, by dissecting Hexblade and recreating its key powers in other ways.

Please let me know what you think. I've tried to consider multiclassing shenanigans as well as balance for the straight Warlock. Notably, like the Hexblade Patron, while each of these work well with a Pact of the Blade, it's not required for any of them.

Spoiler: version 1

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First, add shillelagh to the Warlock spell list.

I'd considered other options, from making a new cantrip to trying a Warlock 1st level spell, but shillelagh does everything the first-level Warlock needs it to in order to let him build a concentrated build towards Pact of the Blade the way Hexblade did by giving him Cha to hit and damage on non-two-handed weapons. Sure, he's stuck with a club or quarterstaff at level 1, but it's doing damage like the best one-handed weapon out there.

New Invocation: Eldritch Armaments

You learn the the shillelagh cantrip. If you already know it, you may learn another Cantrip on the Warlock spell list. You may target any weapon that lacks the two-handed property with it, and may take an additional bonus action on any round in which you cast Shillelagh.

You also gain proficiency with medium armor, shields, and martial weapons.

This upgrades shillelagh the way a number of Invocations upgrade eldritch blast, but also patches two flaws with relying on shillelagh over the original Hexblade's "Hex Warrior:" 1) it basically makes casting it a free action, and 2) it actually removes the cost of spending a precious cantrip-known slot on the specialized spell. This is actually a patch for the fact that Invocations can't be taken at level 1, and I wanted to enable the cha-to-melee capability from level 1. If we don't care about level 1, we can remove all reference to shillelagh and just make this invocation give Cha-to-non-two-handed-melee straightforwardly.

New spell for the Warlock list:
Eldritch Curse
(Level 1 Necromancy)
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Target: One creature you can see within 30 feet
Duration: 1 minute

You pronounce a baleful curse upon the target. Until the curse ends, you gain one of the following benefits, chosen when you cast the spell:

* You gain a bonus to damage rolls against the cursed target. This bonus equals your proficiency bonus.
* Any attack roll you make against the cursed target is a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.
* If the cursed target dies, you regain hit points equal to your warlock level + your Charisma modifier (minimum 1).

You may have only one Eldritch Curse at a time. If you cast it on a second target while another is still cursed, the spell ends for the first target.

If you cast this spell from a 2nd level slot or higher, you may choose an additional option from the above list for each slot above 1st. You may not take any option more than once.

This is "Hexblade's Curse" remade as a level 1 spell for the Warlock list. Because it's a spell choice and not a class feature, I both wanted to proof it against Magic Initiate and other forms of spell-poaching by giving it a slot-dependent number of bonuses, and I also realized I didn't need to make it once per short rest and later upgrade it to unlimited because Warlocks have such limited spells per short rest as-is, but by level 14 aren't feeling the pinch so badly.


The remaining elements - Hex Armor, the "make a specter out of a dead guy" thing, and the Shadow Hound (the latter two of which seem to have one replacing the other in various versions) - can be made into Invocations or Spells as well. Hex Armor would be an Invocation that requires knowing eldritch curse, and adds that 50% miss chance feature to the spell as a 4th option. I think the other two would jsut be straightforward Invocations with level requirements.

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Additional Invocations (added after development later in this thread)

Rebuking Curse
Must be at least level 9 to take this invocation, and must know eldritch curse
When you cast eldritch curse, you may select from the following additional options to apply to the target when you cast the spell:

• When the target hits you with an attack, roll 1d6. On a 4+, the attack misses instead.
• When the target takes necrotic damage from any source, you heal the lower of that amount or the target's hit dice in hit point damage.
• When the target makes an attack against you, you may make a melee or ranged weapon attack against the target as a reaction.

Dread Curse
Must be at least level 15 to take this invocation, and must know eldritch curse
When you cast eldritch curse, you may select from the following additional options to apply to the target when you cast the spell:

• The target is Charmed and Frightened by you, and may make a Charisma save each round on his turn to end this effect.
• You may Dash as a bonus action so long as your movement places you closer to the target than you started, or adjacent to him. You gain the movement capabilities of the gasseous form spell while moving, but retain your normal speed. To observers, you appear to move between blinks and when they're not looking.
• If you have hit the target with a ranged attack since his last turn, he must make a Wisdom saving throw to be able to take any voluntary movement actions which end with him further away from you than he began his turn. This includes teleportation and other magical effects. Creatures immune to being Charmed are immune to this effect.

Biting the bullet, the first changes should be to add a new Cantrip to the Warlock spell list, and add an existing 1st level spell.

Hexblade
Transmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a simple melee weapon)
Duration: 1 minute
The simple melee weapon you are holding is imbued with your Patron's power. For the duration, you can use your spellcasting ability instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of attacks using that weapon. The weapon also becomes magical, if it isn’t already. The spell ends if you cast it again or if the weapon is not in your hand at the end of your turn. If you have Pact of the Blade, you can cast this spell on your Pact Weapon as part of making an attack with it, and your Pact Weapon is a valid target for this spell no matter its form.

Hexblade, here, gives our gishlock his SAD from level 1, just like the Hexblade Patron did with its subclass features. It limits it to melee weapons, but most gishlocks are still using eldritch blast to do their ranged attacks, anyway. Still, keeps them from entirely encroaching on fighter territory.

Add mage armor to the Warlock spell list.

Then, add this Invocation (which even gets to poach the name of the one that used to grant mage armor at will), which they can take as early as level 2, which would also let them trade out mage armor for a different spell using the normal rules for doing so on level-up. This enables a smooth progression into more melee-competence as the Warlock levels.

Armor of Shadows
You can spend a short rest attuning a suit of armor or a shield, even if it is non-magical or otherwise would not require attunement. It becomes suffused with your Patron's power, and takes on minor cosmetic accents of your choosing appropriate to your Patron as long as you remain attuned. Other creatures which attempt to wear or otherwise use it are automatically nonproficient, as it fights them every step of the way, unless they share your Patron. You are proficient with itr as long as you remain attuned to it.

This is expensive in terms of attunement slots, but opens up any armor and shield you wish to carry. Note that it doesn't limit you to one at a time; as long as you have attunement slots available, this is an option. Further, we can add more invocations to spice it up.

Call to Arms
Must know Armor of Shadows
Items attuned through Armor of Shadows now know their master's voice. As an action on your turn, you may speak a verbal command (or anything else sufficiently loud; some warlocks use a snap of their fingers) you set when you attuned the armor and/or shield you wish to call. This can be the same command for both a suit of armor and a shield. When you do, they fly from up to 30 feet away from you and magically don themselves appropriately on your person as part of the activating action. They morph and reshape, or even go briefly intangible if needs be to do it. The command must be audible where the armor is, such that a creature with the Warlock's audial acuity could detect it, for this to work.

Making the command word "Blabbering Blatherskite" is not officially condoned, but also not officially condemned.

The addition of mage armor to their spell list is a buff from requiring them to pick up an Invocation, and it's really a spell pick paying for 13+dex AC, because a Warlock can cast it in the morning and then short rest and have all his spell slots and 7 more hours of the spell effect. But, it's still a major cost, especially if you want the full "hexblade experience" from level one, because you'll be spending another spell known on...

Eldritch Curse
Level 1 Necromancy
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Target: One creature you can see within 30 feet
Duration: 1 minute
You pronounce a baleful curse upon the target. Until the curse ends, you gain one of the following benefits, chosen when you cast the spell:

• You gain a bonus to damage rolls against the cursed target. This bonus equals your proficiency bonus.
• Any attack roll you make against the cursed target is a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 on the d20.
• If the cursed target dies, you regain hit points equal to your warlock level + your Charisma modifier (minimum 1).

You may have only one Eldritch Curse at a time. If you cast it on a second target while another is still cursed, the spell ends for the first target.
If you cast this spell from a 2nd level slot or higher, you may choose an additional option from the above list for each slot above 1st. You may not take any option more than once.

This is "Hexblade's Curse" remade as a level 1 spell for the Warlock list. Because it's a spell choice and not a class feature, I both wanted to proof it against Magic Initiate and other forms of spell-poaching by giving it a slot-dependent number of bonuses, and I also realized I didn't need to make it once per short rest and later upgrade it to unlimited because Warlocks have such limited spells per short rest as-is, but by level 14 aren't feeling the pinch so badly.

The remaining elements can be made into Invocations. For instance, the Hex Armor and some other perks can even just become more options on eldritch curse.

Rebuking Curse
Must be at least level 9 to take this invocation, and must know eldritch curse
When you cast eldritch curse, you may select from the following additional options to apply to the target when you cast the spell:

• When the target hits you with an attack, roll 1d6. On a 4+, the attack misses instead.
• When the target takes necrotic damage from any source, you heal the lower of that amount or the target's hit dice in hit point damage.
• When the target makes an attack against you, you may make a melee or ranged weapon attack against the target as a reaction.

Dread Curse
Must be at least level 15 to take this invocation, and must know eldritch curse
When you cast eldritch curse, you may select from the following additional options to apply to the target when you cast the spell:

• The target is Charmed and Frightened by you, and may make a Charisma save each round on his turn to end this effect.
• You may Dash as a bonus action so long as your movement places you closer to the target than you started, or adjacent to him. You gain the movement capabilities of the gasseous form spell while moving, but retain your normal speed. To observers, you appear to move between blinks and when they're not looking.
• If you have hit the target with a ranged attack since his last turn, he must make a Wisdom saving throw to be able to take any voluntary movement actions which end with him further away from you than he began his turn. This includes teleportation and other magical effects. Creatures immune to being Charmed are immune to this effect.

I haven't written it up, but even the "make a specter out of a guy you killed" ability could be an Invocation. I don't even see a reason to link that to Pact of the Blade exclusively; seems pretty Warlock-y overall. Just not very Hexblade-the-patron-y, and more like something shoved into it because it needed a 6th level feature and they were spitballing.