Spell thief/Hexblade

[RagnaroksChosen]

So for an upcoming game I was looking to use master Spelltheif in full caster is build but as I was looking at random classes i found that a Hexblade can qualify for it.

Game is 9th level Eberron. Pretty much any book (minus Libermortis, heros of horror/battle, TOM) + dragon compendium but my gms weird some things get vetoed.

Either way. I was wondering if this is in any way effective. I figure the full bab of a hexblade combined with the spell stealing of the spell thief would be good. + improved familiar as well?

What do you guys think?


Also using the hexblade fix. though I don't have a link atm.

[Zaq]

If you want to actually use the spells you steal, rather than simply deny your opponent access to them, you want as many spellthief levels as possible. How many levels of spells you can hold is based on your spellthief class level, and Master Spellthief doesn't change that. In essence, with Master Spellthief, you'll be able to rip spells away from your enemy, but you won't be able to do anything with them, and I find the ability to power your own spells with the energy of others to be a very tempting proposition (or, you know, simply casting them).

I'm a fan of single-class spellthief, to be honest. Master Spellthief isn't as good as it looks, since there's way more to the spellthief than just steal spell. Hexblade, eh, you're high enough level that you could actually do something with it (Hexblade is really painful at low levels), but honestly I'd pick one or the other. I don't think the two synergize well at all. Your mileage may vary.

[RagnaroksChosen]

If you want to actually use the spells you steal, rather than simply deny your opponent access to them, you want as many spellthief levels as possible. How many levels of spells you can hold is based on your spellthief class level, and Master Spellthief doesn't change that. In essence, with Master Spellthief, you'll be able to rip spells away from your enemy, but you won't be able to do anything with them, and I find the ability to power your own spells with the energy of others to be a very tempting proposition (or, you know, simply casting them).

I'm a fan of single-class spellthief, to be honest. Master Spellthief isn't as good as it looks, since there's way more to the spellthief than just steal spell. Hexblade, eh, you're high enough level that you could actually do something with it (Hexblade is really painful at low levels), but honestly I'd pick one or the other. I don't think the two synergize well at all. Your mileage may vary.

I guess accept that "a spell thief can cast the spell himself on a subsequent turn. Treat the spell as if it where cast by the original owner of the spell..."

My GM believes as i do that master spell thief is talking about the steal spell ability there for working the way i described as RAW isn't that clear and Customer Service wasn't clear on a ruling either. So you could store them as if you where a 9th level spelltheif as well.

Sorry I didn't clarify that originally.

[Zaq]

Ah. See, here's the relevant paragraph:

Spoiler

Show

At any one time, a spellthief can possess a maximum
number of stolen spell levels equal to his class level (treat
0-level spells as 1/2 level for this purpose). For instance, a
4th-level spellthief can have two stolen 2nd-level spells, or
one 2nd-level spell and two 1st-level spells, or any other
combination of 0-level, 1st-level, and 2nd-level spells
totaling four levels. If he steals a spell that would cause
him to exceed this limit, he must choose to lose stolen
spells sufficient to reduce his total number of stolen spell
levels to no more than his maximum. (Complete Adventurer, p.16)

If your GM is houseruling that away, awesome, but RAW it doesn't work. Still, "RAW is law" is a silly perspective anyway, but when dealing with strangers on the internet it's our only common frame of reference, isn't it?

Also be aware that you cannot, RAW, use stolen spells to power your Hexblade (or any other class's) spells, only your Spellthief ones. Check if your GM is altering that as well, or if you're going to have to deal with that.

In my mind, the biggest loss is that of Steal Spell Effect, since that's highly dependent on your Spellthief class level as well and Master Spellthief does nothing to change that. I guess my problem is that I'm thinking of it from a primarily Spellthief perspective, while you're looking at it from a primarily Hexblade perspective.

Improved Familiar is a good idea for a hexblade, maybe even with Obtain Familiar so you can get the Dark Companion ACF from PHB2. A Hexblade's familiar is much more resilient and combat-ready than a wizard's... though you suffer the same consequence if it bites the dust (and they have the same stupid year-and-a-day replacement rule), so don't get cocky.

Hmmm. Mage Slayer might not be a bad feat for you, since Master Spellthief bumps your caster level up, and your spell-stealing ways make you a decent foe of magic. (Sure, we all know that the only way to beat a top-notch caster is with an even more top-notch caster, but you can at least pretend at the lower levels, right? Besides, not every caster is top-notch.)

One feat of which I'm very fond for Hexblades is Netherese Battle Curse, from Lost Empires of Faerun (that particular feat is also available free on the WotC site, though I don't have a link right now, and it's very simple to remove the Faerun flavor), burning a spell slot to add a bonus to an attack and a curse if you hit. If your GM lets you use stolen spells to power Battle Curse, then it's a really good choice. Same with Arcane Strike... bad idea if you can't use stolen spells on it, great idea if you can. Ask your GM.