1st Hexblade ever! [Archive] - Wizards Community

1st Hexblade ever! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
cowdragon
02-01-04, 02:11 AM okay, we're about to start a short term high-powered campaign. We're starting at level 10 and will probably quickly advance to 20th. It's the DM. He gives big rewards. Now, I usually play the Sorcerer or Bard of the group, but I wanted something slightly different this time. So, I went with Hexblade. We can use any official WoTC material, and we are playing 3.5. I like humans because of extra feats and skills. I want a character who is really good at melee, but has just a touch of magic to augment his abilities. We don't roll stats, we just assign the following in whatever order and then factor in modifiers. 18,17,16,15,14,14. I plan on using my starting gold to buy Beast Claws and a Mithral Breastplate. So here's what I'm thinking. How does it sound? And if anyone has any suggesations, I'm open for 'em. Thanks.

Level 1-10: Hexblade
Level 11-20: Dragon Disciple

Feats/Level
human:Improved initiative
1st: Dodge
3rd:Combat Expertise
5th:Spell Penetration
6th:Karmic Strike
9th:Arcane Stike
10th:Greater Spell penetration
12th:Improved Toughness
15th:Mobility
18th:Elusive Target[Tactical]

Attributes:At 10th level(levels bonus factored in)
Str:14
Dex:18
Con:18
Int:16
Wis:14
Cha:16

How's that look? Also, What spells would you choose? And what skills would be good to choose? Thank you.

The Cowdragon :mage:
catharz
02-01-04, 02:25 AM 1) Spell penetration is next to worthless to you: You'll never have a high enough caster level for it to do anything anyway!

2) If I were you, I would only ever take four levels of Hexblade, then get into DD as soon as possible (taking melee PrCs later). If you want to go 10 Hexblade/10 DD, then start as a level 8 Hexblade/DD 2, and advance to DD 10 before taking the last 2 hexblade levels. If you're taking Hexblade to 10th level anyway, you might consider Hexblade 11/DD 9, for 3rd level spells, or even 14/6, for 4th.

3) Take the Wrymling familiar (or Dragon familiar, whatever its called) feat from Draconomicon. It just makes a Hexblade/Dragon disciple that much cooler.

4) Consider multiclassing into other PrCs: Arcane duelist 2 will give you Cha to AC, among other things, and AD 4 gives dexterous attack (see the Way of the sword random encounters thread on the WotC website). A level of Cleric grants command undead, which you can use for Divine might. It also gives two domains and some nice buffs. Blackguard can give you the command undead, keeps up your BAB, and gives you even more Cha to saves. Once you have 10 levels of Dragon disciple, you can even qualify for some draconic PrCs.
cowdragon
02-01-04, 03:07 AM Thank you for your reply! In response to the spell penetration comments, it's only because the choices for bonus feats for hexblade are pitiful, so I chose those.
I really like the idea for a couple levels of Blackguard! Also, I'm getting the Draconomicon any day now(it's in the mail) so I have to check that out. I like the idea of a wyrmling familiar. I like that idea alot.

The Cowdragon :mage:
pawsplay
02-01-04, 03:13 AM If you do ten and ten, don't take Spell Penetration, it's useless. Spell Focus just might be useful to you from time to time. And if you are going to make that strong a commitment to Dragon Disciple, I'd suggest taking a look at those draconic PrC's.
LordShade
02-01-04, 03:59 AM Remember that Arcane Duelist only gets cha to AC if unarmored.
Verenal
02-01-04, 06:51 AM LordShade, where did you get that from?

Apparent Defense (Ex): Due to trickery and force of personality, the arcane duelist adds her Charisma bonus to her Armor Class, in addition to her Dexterity bonus. Conditions that cause the arcane duelist to lose her Dexterity bonus to Armor Class also cause the arcane duelist to lose this bonus.

This is from arcane duelist (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20030224a) but it doesn't mention anything about armor. Therefore it's safe to assume you can wear armor if you want to.
catharz
02-01-04, 06:22 PM As for the feats: Combat casting is better (fewer skill points in concentration), and as pawsplay said, Spell focus is also better (your DCs might be reasonable, you caster level will never be).

Reading over the Dragon familiar description, it would be difficult for you to every qualify: It requires an arcane caster level of 7 or greater, unfortunately.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
cowdragon 02-01-04, 02:11 AM	okay, we're about to start a short term high-powered campaign. We're starting at level 10 and will probably quickly advance to 20th. It's the DM. He gives big rewards. Now, I usually play the Sorcerer or Bard of the group, but I wanted something slightly different this time. So, I went with Hexblade. We can use any official WoTC material, and we are playing 3.5. I like humans because of extra feats and skills. I want a character who is really good at melee, but has just a touch of magic to augment his abilities. We don't roll stats, we just assign the following in whatever order and then factor in modifiers. 18,17,16,15,14,14. I plan on using my starting gold to buy Beast Claws and a Mithral Breastplate. So here's what I'm thinking. How does it sound? And if anyone has any suggesations, I'm open for 'em. Thanks. Level 1-10: Hexblade Level 11-20: Dragon Disciple Feats/Level human:Improved initiative 1st: Dodge 3rd:Combat Expertise 5th:Spell Penetration 6th:Karmic Strike 9th:Arcane Stike 10th:Greater Spell penetration 12th:Improved Toughness 15th:Mobility 18th:Elusive Target[Tactical] Attributes:At 10th level(levels bonus factored in) Str:14 Dex:18 Con:18 Int:16 Wis:14 Cha:16 How's that look? Also, What spells would you choose? And what skills would be good to choose? Thank you. The Cowdragon :mage:
catharz 02-01-04, 02:25 AM	1) Spell penetration is next to worthless to you: You'll never have a high enough caster level for it to do anything anyway! 2) If I were you, I would only ever take four levels of Hexblade, then get into DD as soon as possible (taking melee PrCs later). If you want to go 10 Hexblade/10 DD, then start as a level 8 Hexblade/DD 2, and advance to DD 10 before taking the last 2 hexblade levels. If you're taking Hexblade to 10th level anyway, you might consider Hexblade 11/DD 9, for 3rd level spells, or even 14/6, for 4th. 3) Take the Wrymling familiar (or Dragon familiar, whatever its called) feat from Draconomicon. It just makes a Hexblade/Dragon disciple that much cooler. 4) Consider multiclassing into other PrCs: Arcane duelist 2 will give you Cha to AC, among other things, and AD 4 gives dexterous attack (see the Way of the sword random encounters thread on the WotC website). A level of Cleric grants command undead, which you can use for Divine might. It also gives two domains and some nice buffs. Blackguard can give you the command undead, keeps up your BAB, and gives you even more Cha to saves. Once you have 10 levels of Dragon disciple, you can even qualify for some draconic PrCs.
cowdragon 02-01-04, 03:07 AM	Thank you for your reply! In response to the spell penetration comments, it's only because the choices for bonus feats for hexblade are pitiful, so I chose those. I really like the idea for a couple levels of Blackguard! Also, I'm getting the Draconomicon any day now(it's in the mail) so I have to check that out. I like the idea of a wyrmling familiar. I like that idea alot. The Cowdragon :mage:
pawsplay 02-01-04, 03:13 AM	If you do ten and ten, don't take Spell Penetration, it's useless. Spell Focus just might be useful to you from time to time. And if you are going to make that strong a commitment to Dragon Disciple, I'd suggest taking a look at those draconic PrC's.
LordShade 02-01-04, 03:59 AM	Remember that Arcane Duelist only gets cha to AC if unarmored.
Verenal 02-01-04, 06:51 AM	LordShade, where did you get that from? Apparent Defense (Ex): Due to trickery and force of personality, the arcane duelist adds her Charisma bonus to her Armor Class, in addition to her Dexterity bonus. Conditions that cause the arcane duelist to lose her Dexterity bonus to Armor Class also cause the arcane duelist to lose this bonus. This is from arcane duelist (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20030224a) but it doesn't mention anything about armor. Therefore it's safe to assume you can wear armor if you want to.
catharz 02-01-04, 06:22 PM	As for the feats: Combat casting is better (fewer skill points in concentration), and as pawsplay said, Spell focus is also better (your DCs might be reasonable, you caster level will never be). Reading over the Dragon familiar description, it would be difficult for you to every qualify: It requires an arcane caster level of 7 or greater, unfortunately.