Hey everyone! I am in a seafaring campaign, and I have a swashbuckling rogue that I have been playing and having fun with. However, I have only ever played spellcasters or classes with the ability to cast, such as paladins or rangers. And I am getting that old itch to have a few spells up my sleeve again. The more I thought about it, I wanted a bit of a warlock flavor to my character. As I narrowed my options down, I came to two decisions: I either take the Magic Initiate (Warlock) feat next level, or I fully dip into a Hexblade Warlock. Which one would you suggest? I'm not actually sure I want to make a full on pact for my character, for roleplay reasons, but I'm also not sure if a Magic Initiate feat would give me that much. What is your suggestion for giving me a bit of magic?
I'm currently playing a similar character in my current campaign. He's a Tiefling Swashbuckler Rogue/Battlemaster Fighter who fights with a rapier and buckler. Rather than multiclassing into yet another class, I'll be taking Magic Initiate (Warlock) as my first feat to reflect his fiendish bloodline manifesting as powers.
Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade are the obvious cantrips to take here, as Booming Blade in particular works amazingly well with Swashbuckler. The 1st-level spell took me a bit longer to decide on - I didn't want to go Wizard and take Find Familiar as it felt a bit too metagamey and didn't really fit roleplay-wise, and most combat spells were restricted by the fact that both my hands were full. Hex didn't feel overly useful either as I only get one attack. Eventually I settled on Cause Fear as a nifty little bit of battlefield control, and fits my character concept nicely.
TL;DR: I say go Magic Initiate. BB, GFB, then take whatever feels useful as your spell.
A good point! You even get to use a shield as well, if you want to. Although I'm less convinced about Thirsting Blade - a 5-level dip loses you Master Duelist, which is a shame. Also, it doesn't gel all that well if you're making heavy use of GFB/BB as you're not taking the Attack action.
Thanks everyone! I’m still not convinced on either side, I just need to think about it a bit more and talk to my DM about the whole scenario. I guess those conversations will shape what I do! Another thing is that I am in a pretty much magic-less party (we have a paladin and a bard, but that’s it, out of 6 people.), so I definitely will be taking one of the two options!
Happy to help! It sounds like a paladin and bard can still bring a decent amount of buffing and crowd control to the table. If it helps, let's try compare the main differences between what I believe are your two best options - Swashbuckler 20 with Magic Initiate vs. Swashbuckler X/Hexblade 3.
Swashbuckler 20 w/ Magic Initiate
10d6 Sneak Attack
Elusive
An extra ASI
Stroke of Luck
GFB/BB
Once-per-day spell of your choice
Swashbuckler X/Hexblade 3
9d6 Sneak Attack
CHA mod for attacks (your mileage may vary with this, Swashbucklers do benefit from high CHA but as a rogue you may also want to keep a high DEX anyway)
Shield and Medium Armor proficiency (you may want to pick up the War Caster feat if going this route, however)
GFB/BB
Twice-per-short rest spellcasting (about 6 spells per adventuring day, depending)
Access to 2nd-level spells including Invisibility and Darkness (if you're an elf or half-elf, pick up the Elven Accuracy feat and this gets bonkers)
Access to some great invocations such as Devil's Sight and Improved Pact Weapon (Pact of the Blade)
Hope that helps! I would say dipping into Hexblade 3 loses you some nice Rogue features but is arguably more powerful, and if you're used to playing spellcasters you shouldn't find it much more complex. You could play a character who's less sneaky and more of a cursed duelist, with medium armor and a shield. As always, go with whatever sounds most fun to you!
I feel like we should look at this through the lens of a realistic 1-11 campaign.
In that scope, each level is so important. MCing delays your more important, higher attributes by weeks or months from your main class. In this way, I think MI is a better thing if only because that synergy with BB is too good to pass up in any swashbuckler. It's just free extra damage on top of what you already do, and MI provides a way to get that along with a spell like find familiar which I'm sure you're well acquainted with how useful that is.
Drow Swashbuckler with the Drow High Magic feat. Dancing Lights and Detect Magic on demand. Faerie Fire, Darkness, Levitation, and Dispel Magic as once per day spells.
And yes, a High Elf with booming blade is the easiest way to power up a character that only gets a single attack. It's also good for melee Clerics, perhaps even Druids.
I just talked to my DM, and he suggested the Magic Initiate feat because of other story reasons, and how that could easily tie into the story he has laid out and my backstory, whereas a Hexblade Warlock is a lot harder to tie in. It could still be done, but it would make less sense and require a lot more work on both of our parts. Thank you guys for all of your help! My sea elf, Edward, is ready to sail!
Half elf high elf variant for the cantrip as a racial feature. You would still have access to elven accuracy to round out dex, use steady aim for triple advantage, and have full sneak attack progression.
I have something a little more off the beaten track to suggest. Instead of going Hexblade why not go Genie patron? It is a lot easier to incorporate (including the classic finding a old dusty lamp in a shop) and its abilities are pretty neat. Bottled Respite lets you enter your vessel once per long rest, which opens up a ton of fun and tactics since your vessel is Tiny is easy to hide and can be carried around by somebody else. And Genie's Wrath is basically a poor mans version of Hexblade's Curse except in the case of a Rogue that normally only hits once a turn it is actually better because you do not need to use a bonus action to activate it nor do you need a short rest to recharge it like Hexblade's Curse.
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Hey everyone! I am in a seafaring campaign, and I have a swashbuckling rogue that I have been playing and having fun with. However, I have only ever played spellcasters or classes with the ability to cast, such as paladins or rangers. And I am getting that old itch to have a few spells up my sleeve again. The more I thought about it, I wanted a bit of a warlock flavor to my character. As I narrowed my options down, I came to two decisions: I either take the Magic Initiate (Warlock) feat next level, or I fully dip into a Hexblade Warlock. Which one would you suggest? I'm not actually sure I want to make a full on pact for my character, for roleplay reasons, but I'm also not sure if a Magic Initiate feat would give me that much. What is your suggestion for giving me a bit of magic?
Fathomless warlock instead?
I'm currently playing a similar character in my current campaign. He's a Tiefling Swashbuckler Rogue/Battlemaster Fighter who fights with a rapier and buckler. Rather than multiclassing into yet another class, I'll be taking Magic Initiate (Warlock) as my first feat to reflect his fiendish bloodline manifesting as powers.
Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade are the obvious cantrips to take here, as Booming Blade in particular works amazingly well with Swashbuckler. The 1st-level spell took me a bit longer to decide on - I didn't want to go Wizard and take Find Familiar as it felt a bit too metagamey and didn't really fit roleplay-wise, and most combat spells were restricted by the fact that both my hands were full. Hex didn't feel overly useful either as I only get one attack. Eventually I settled on Cause Fear as a nifty little bit of battlefield control, and fits my character concept nicely.
TL;DR: I say go Magic Initiate. BB, GFB, then take whatever feels useful as your spell.
A good point! You even get to use a shield as well, if you want to. Although I'm less convinced about Thirsting Blade - a 5-level dip loses you Master Duelist, which is a shame. Also, it doesn't gel all that well if you're making heavy use of GFB/BB as you're not taking the Attack action.
Thanks everyone! I’m still not convinced on either side, I just need to think about it a bit more and talk to my DM about the whole scenario. I guess those conversations will shape what I do! Another thing is that I am in a pretty much magic-less party (we have a paladin and a bard, but that’s it, out of 6 people.), so I definitely will be taking one of the two options!
Happy to help! It sounds like a paladin and bard can still bring a decent amount of buffing and crowd control to the table. If it helps, let's try compare the main differences between what I believe are your two best options - Swashbuckler 20 with Magic Initiate vs. Swashbuckler X/Hexblade 3.
Swashbuckler 20 w/ Magic Initiate
Swashbuckler X/Hexblade 3
Hope that helps! I would say dipping into Hexblade 3 loses you some nice Rogue features but is arguably more powerful, and if you're used to playing spellcasters you shouldn't find it much more complex. You could play a character who's less sneaky and more of a cursed duelist, with medium armor and a shield. As always, go with whatever sounds most fun to you!
I feel like we should look at this through the lens of a realistic 1-11 campaign.
In that scope, each level is so important. MCing delays your more important, higher attributes by weeks or months from your main class. In this way, I think MI is a better thing if only because that synergy with BB is too good to pass up in any swashbuckler. It's just free extra damage on top of what you already do, and MI provides a way to get that along with a spell like find familiar which I'm sure you're well acquainted with how useful that is.
cgarciao raises a good point above. Heck, if you just wanted Booming Blade then you could always just roll a High Half-Elf and take it from level 1.
Drow Swashbuckler with the Drow High Magic feat. Dancing Lights and Detect Magic on demand. Faerie Fire, Darkness, Levitation, and Dispel Magic as once per day spells.
And yes, a High Elf with booming blade is the easiest way to power up a character that only gets a single attack. It's also good for melee Clerics, perhaps even Druids.
I just talked to my DM, and he suggested the Magic Initiate feat because of other story reasons, and how that could easily tie into the story he has laid out and my backstory, whereas a Hexblade Warlock is a lot harder to tie in. It could still be done, but it would make less sense and require a lot more work on both of our parts. Thank you guys for all of your help! My sea elf, Edward, is ready to sail!
Ah yes, putting roleplaying into consideration I would agree that Magic Initiate is easier if you don't want to explain how you sold your soul.
May you have fair winds and gentle seas!
Half elf high elf variant for the cantrip as a racial feature. You would still have access to elven accuracy to round out dex, use steady aim for triple advantage, and have full sneak attack progression.
I have something a little more off the beaten track to suggest. Instead of going Hexblade why not go Genie patron? It is a lot easier to incorporate (including the classic finding a old dusty lamp in a shop) and its abilities are pretty neat. Bottled Respite lets you enter your vessel once per long rest, which opens up a ton of fun and tactics since your vessel is Tiny is easy to hide and can be carried around by somebody else. And Genie's Wrath is basically a poor mans version of Hexblade's Curse except in the case of a Rogue that normally only hits once a turn it is actually better because you do not need to use a bonus action to activate it nor do you need a short rest to recharge it like Hexblade's Curse.