Quick Hexblade Update

[Kane0]

Hows it going guys?

This little fix is going to be along the same lines as my Warlock update. A little boost and a few nicer things while keeping the feel and style as close as possible to the original. So lets get stuck into it.

Warning: Table within a table. I realize some people don't like that.

Hit Dice: d10
Skills: 4 + Int
Class Skills: As Hexblade
Proficiencies: Simple and martial weapons, Light armor and shields.

{table=head] Table 1: The Hexblade | Spellcasting
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st | +1 |+2 | +0 | +2 | Curse 1/Day, Armored Mage (Light), Spellcasting
2nd | +2 |+3 | +0 | +3 | Arcane Resistance
3rd | +3 |+3 | +1 | +3 | Mettle
4th | +4 |+4 | +1 | +4 | Bonus Feat
5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Curse 2/Day
6th | +6/+1 |+5 | +2 | +5 | Dark Companion
7th | +7/+2 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Greater Curse
8th | +8/+3 | +6 | +2 | +6 | Bonus Feat
9th | +9/+4 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Curse 3/Day
10th | +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Swift Cast 1/Day
11th | +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Aura of Unluck 10%
12th | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Bonus Feat
13th | +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Curse 4/Day
14th | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +4 | +9 | Swift Cast 2/Day
15th | +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Dire Curse
16th | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Bonus Feat
17th | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Curse 5/Day
18th | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Swift Cast 3/Day
19th | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Aura of Unluck 20%
20th | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +12 | Bonus Feat, Killing Curse
[/table] | {table=head]Can|1st|2nd|3rd|4th
1 | - | - | - | -
1 | - | - | - | -
2 | - | - | - | -
2 | 1 | - | - | -
3 | 1 | - | - | -
3 | 2 | - | - | -
4 | 2 | 1 | - | -
4 | 3 | 1 | - | -
4 | 3 | 2 | - | -
4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | -
4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | -
4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | -
4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1
4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1
4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4
[/table]
[/table]

Hexblade's Curse:
As a swift action, curse a target within 60'. Target must succeed on a will save (DC 10 + Half Hexblade level + Cha mod) or take -2 to all d20 and damage rolls for one minute. A target that makes its save becomes immune to that Hexblade's Curse for 24 hours. This ability is usable 1 + Cha mod times per day. The effects of multiple applications of a Hexblade's curse to a single target do not stack, they just reset the duration.

Armored Mage (Light):
The Hexblade can cast Hexblade spells in light armor at no penalty. This includes bucklers and light shields.

Spellcasting:
The Hexblade casts arcane spells from a fixed list and is Charisma based. He casts spontaneously and has access to the entire spell list. He has a caster level equal to his Hexblade level.
Note: The Hexblade spell list includes all spells current available plus those of the assassin spell list and all Sorc/Wiz cantrips.

Arcane Resistance:
The Hexblade adds his Charisma bonus to all saving throws. This does not stack with any other class ability that adds his Charisma bonus to saving throws, for example the Paladins Divine Grace class ability.

Mettle:
As Hexblade.

Bonus Feat:
You gain a bonus feat you qualify for. This feat may be from the Wizard's or Fighter's list of bonus feats.

Dark Companion:
As the Hexblade ACF. Alternatively you can gain a familiar as a Wizard of Hexblade level.

Greater Curse:
The penalty to rolls victims of your Curse take improves to -4.

Swift Cast:
A number of times per day you can cast any Hexblade spell that normally has a casting time of a standard action as a swift action instead.

Aura of Unluck:
You emit a 5' aura that provides yourself and your allies with a 10% miss chance. You can raise and lower this aura as a swift action. At level 19 the range increases to 10' and the miss chance improves to 20%.

Dire Curse:
The penalty to rolls victims of your Curse take improves to -6.

Killing Curse:
As a standard action the Hexblade can force a victim within 60' that is already under the effects of his curse to make a fortitude save (DC is the same as Hexblade's Curse) or die. This is an Instant Death effect. Whether or not the target makes his save this ends the curse.

ACF: Hexblade Invocations
Instead of spellcasting you instead gain invocations as a Warlock of your Hexblade level -2.

Spoiler: New Feats

Show

Contagious Curse
Prerequisite: Hexblade Curse class abilitiy
Benefit: You can choose to spend a full round action to make your curse contagious, increasing the duration of the curse to 24 hours and bestowing the curse at half the penalty to anyone coming into contact with the victim on a failed will save (DC is the same as Hexblades curse ability). The victim is in turn cursed for 24 hours and can spread the curse in the same manner except that the penalties are never lowered beyond half.

Mass Curse
Prerequisite: Greater Curse class ability
Benefit: You can choose to spend a standard action that does not provoke Attacks of Opportunity to curse all targets within 10' of you with a single curse attempt.

Draining Curse
Prerequisite: Dire Curse class ability
Benefit: Instead of the normal penalties, you can instead bestow an amount of negative levels equal to half the penalty you would normally bestow on d20 and damage rolls. These negative levels last for 1 minute and cannot become permanent.
You can apply both a Hexblade curse and a Draining curse to the same victim, but not multiple Hexblade curses or Draining curses.

Hexpact Magic
Prerequisite: Hexblade Curse class ability, Eldritch Blast class ability
Benefit: You add your Hexblade level to your Warlock level for determining the damage dice of your Eldritch Blast. You also add your Warlock level to your Hexblade level for determining if you gain the Greater Hexblade Curse or Dire Hexblade Curse abilities.

Improved Hexpact Magic
Prerequisite: Hexpact Magic, Access to Lesser Invocations, Hexblade level 4
Benefit: You sacrifice your Hexblade spellcasting to add your Hexblade level to your Warlock level for determining invocations known and highest invocation grade accessible.

The Hexpact Magic and Improved Hexpact Magic feats included in the Hexblade and Warlock bonus feat lists.

[ngilop]

I did a Hexblade re-tool a bit ago, feel free to take a look at that and glean any ideas you can from it

[Xerlith]

How about making the curse per-encounter? It could help with the overall usefulness.

[Kane0]

I thought about it, but there isnt much of a precedent of /encounter abilities in 3.5, especially magical effects. That and I want to keep the resource management somewhat tight. The fact that a curse is never wasted if saved against and you add your Cha to uses/day means it can be used more often than before without giving you something like a delayed invocation or dragon breath cooldown which can be spammed.
He also gets more spells to choose from and cast so he can always resort to those.

Edit: Also UMD to a lesser extent.
The point being that his curse is not meant to be a spammable ability but a useful tool to gain an edge, kind of like the Paladin's smite evil. Some people prefer to give these abilities less hard uses in a day and go for a more ToB Maneuver route, which works fine but in this case is not the direction I want to take.

[Xerlith]

Well, I get your point. I like it. May use it against my players sometime soon, if I can. Can I?

[Kane0]

By all means, I love to see my stuff get used. Let me know how it goes?

[Xerlith]

Sure! This post will be edited with the coverage. The party is pretty high-powered, so I think this+Dread Necro might get funny at getting at their weak sides.

[Kane0]

Or alternatively take the feats here and use my warlock fix if that works for you? It should turn out nasty enough.

[togapika]

Needs MOAR capstone

[Kane0]

Touche, capstone added.

Also included some more feats.

[Xerlith]

Since it's been a while, I'm creating a new post.
So I went against my players with a Hexblade5/Dread Necro8. Lot of minions, thanks to the Dread Necro's 8th level ability, so by the time they could get to him by himself ,they've already expended about half of their resources for this fight.
They got him dead, finally, after a long fight and after warblade getting dropped into negatives. Overall, the early level changes are hardly noticeable compared to original. Since I wanted to do so sooner or later anyway, I ran some playtests with a straight Hexblade. It seemed... Lacking. But I can't quite put my finger on it.