No, I used the Hexblade, but I pretty much play it like the Raven Queen is guiding her. Her pact weapon has grown more powerful as she's leveled up, and it has shown her that the Raven Queen wants her to kill someone by becoming icy cold - that's her signal to end the life of some specific creature. I kind of wrote her backstory, and laid out her gameplay, before really studying the Raven Queen, but I think it works.
That's a great backstory. How did you create the story that makes your character beholden to the raven queen?
Here's the whole thing... I'm not sure the "Notes" section is visible to anyone but me... seems like a flaw of the site.
I wrote most of this up while watching a movie, and have tweaked it a little as I learned more about the Raven Queen. I liked the UA version, but when Hexblade became an option on DND Beyond, I went with that.
Ashkara'a
Born and raised in the ghetto of a mid-sized town, she feels guilt and remorse for (thinking that she) caused the deaths of the mother and little brother at a young age. She spent her youth trying to to get money honestly, which was nearly impossible because of her demonic appearance, miserable self-loathing, and righteous indignation. Left alone, she spent her time practicing with weapons, stealing, and picking locks. As a last resort, in her 15th year, she resorted to taking a contract from a shady old man to kill someone who had wronged him. When she cornered her quarry, she was quaking with fear. She was about to turn and run, shattered by fear and rage at herself, when a soothing chill calmed her. Her focus cleared, her pulse slowed, and as her target tried to beg for his miserable life, she knew in her heart that he was guilty, and a terrible person. So she killed him.
And passed out. When she awoke, it was dark, misty and cold. Towers of rocks and skeletal trees faded in and out of her poor vision. A misty shadow started to form in front of her, and she was afraid anew. The man-shaped shadow spoke in her mind, in Infernal. He offered her his guidance, in return for her allegiance. To him, but moreso to her ultimate benefactor, the Raven Queen. She was supposed to kill on the Queen's behalf. Kill those that had somehow cheated death, or send her a particular soul that's in some inscrutable way interesting to her. Each miserable soul she dispatched to the Shadowfell would give the Queen more power, and she might share that power with her fledgling recruit. With another sharp chill, she collapsed, asleep.
When she awoke again, there was a beautiful Katana in front of her. It's blade was dull ashy gray, and the handle was wrapped with a black, leathery material. Several days had passed, and she was far from home. She has spent the following 4 or 5 years wandering from villages to cities, staying in a town until the even the shadiest tavern would refuse to serve her. She communicates with her criminal network, especially the thin, pale Baltar, preferring to take murder contracts. Whenever she felt a slight coolness in the handle of her Katana, she was given the confidence to carry it out, feeling in her soul that the target deserved to die. Rarely, the handle would get very warm, and in her discomfort, she would call it off. Even if she needed the gold.
As years passed, a wellspring of mystical energy grew, and she could cast spells. Shadows would seek her out on occasion, and her powers and abilities would grow. Black Ravens sometimes appeared at her killsites, and she grew to seek them out. She began to call her sword ShadowReaver. She spent time with it, whispering to it, sharing her memories and nightmares. After she killed with it, the blade would darken for a while, and the handle would get a deep reddish tint. She was connected to it, and in some way, it was connected to her.
Over the handful of years she has been engaged in her blade pact, she has struggled with her mistakes and emptiness of her miserable past, and the equally lonely existence she sees before her. Her sword craves blood. Her damaged psyche wants alcohol. Her soul, on the other hand, seeks redemption.
The blood - and the alcohol - are much closer at hand.
This is probably donne intenionally both description and notes hidden from the players (dunno if this also count for DM) so players can still have secret/unknown to other players.
Good point... But I would think the visual description would be ok? I mean, if your character has disguses, or uses spells or invocations to change their appearance, then you'd have to be careful what you post, but otherwise?
Can you explain the spiritual weapon hex EB combos you refer to plus how pushing or pulling will help? Thanks trying to figure out what to do with mine.
Basically as a Raven Queen warlock you get two spells:
Hex Spiritual Weapon
They stack very well because while Hex requires concentration....spiritual weapon does not.
So you get extra damage from Hex (1d6 necrotic damage per HIT) from your eldritch blast and any other to hit effect.
Spiritual Weapon does 1d8 + spell modifier so you could be doing at 5th level:
2d10( add +8 if you took agonizing blast) + (1d8+4 Spiritual Weapon) + 3d6 (Hex damage= two hits from EB and one hit from Spiritual Weapon)
Which would be an average of 32.5 damage per round with Agonizing Blast Or 24.5 average damage without Agonizing Blast
Really the nice thing about the subclass is that you are very versatile as you can scout as a raven, do damage in a fight, protect an important NPC with Sanctuary, and speak with the dead when you accidentally kill that last guard.
Its a spell that lets you talk with an animated corpse of a dead creature. It is a fun little spell that you can recharge on a short rest as a Raven Queen Warlock.
You are immune to damage at level 6 when you merge right?
I think its never been discussed too much. Seems that it would be more balanced to say that you are not. If you are hit I would treat it like Polymorph and you would revert from the Raven Form and you would get advantage on all hits on the creature that killed it.
I read a discussion that quoted the language of UA. It said something like treat it as if it were perched. Meaning immune. Consensus was that it was overpowered that way.
My reading is that the raven is immune ONLY while perched on YOUR shoulder, not when merged.
"While perched on your shoulder, the raven can’t be targeted by any attack or other harmful effect; only you can cast spells on it; it can’t take damage; and it is incapacitated."
When you merge with the Raven you and it are one and you/it are no longer on your shoulder. Therefore you/it are not immune. They write this:
"During this time, you gain the benefits of your raven being perched on your shoulder."
So what are the benefits of your raven being perched on your shoulder?
You can argue you get both the list of benefits to the warlock and the list of raven benefits. BUT on the raven list is the fact that you are incapacitated.
Yet the merge power says you can use your actions to do a list of things.
You don't get an action if you are incapacitated. Therefore, it's pretty obvious you only get the warlock benefits of perching (30ft darkvision, perception bonuses), and not the raven list (effectivly immune to harm but incapacitated)
To rule you are immune while merged you really also have to rule you are incapacitated.
Sounds very cool. Thanks for sharing. I joined a party with druids 2 bards and a cleric. Looks like I should go melee.
Did you use the unearthed arcana for Raven Queen?
No, I used the Hexblade, but I pretty much play it like the Raven Queen is guiding her. Her pact weapon has grown more powerful as she's leveled up, and it has shown her that the Raven Queen wants her to kill someone by becoming icy cold - that's her signal to end the life of some specific creature. I kind of wrote her backstory, and laid out her gameplay, before really studying the Raven Queen, but I think it works.
That's a great backstory. How did you create the story that makes your character beholden to the raven queen?
Here's the whole thing... I'm not sure the "Notes" section is visible to anyone but me... seems like a flaw of the site.
I wrote most of this up while watching a movie, and have tweaked it a little as I learned more about the Raven Queen. I liked the UA version, but when Hexblade became an option on DND Beyond, I went with that.
Ashkara'a
Born and raised in the ghetto of a mid-sized town, she feels guilt and remorse for (thinking that she) caused the deaths of the mother and little brother at a young age. She spent her youth trying to to get money honestly, which was nearly impossible because of her demonic appearance, miserable self-loathing, and righteous indignation. Left alone, she spent her time practicing with weapons, stealing, and picking locks. As a last resort, in her 15th year, she resorted to taking a contract from a shady old man to kill someone who had wronged him. When she cornered her quarry, she was quaking with fear. She was about to turn and run, shattered by fear and rage at herself, when a soothing chill calmed her. Her focus cleared, her pulse slowed, and as her target tried to beg for his miserable life, she knew in her heart that he was guilty, and a terrible person. So she killed him.
And passed out. When she awoke, it was dark, misty and cold. Towers of rocks and skeletal trees faded in and out of her poor vision. A misty shadow started to form in front of her, and she was afraid anew. The man-shaped shadow spoke in her mind, in Infernal. He offered her his guidance, in return for her allegiance. To him, but moreso to her ultimate benefactor, the Raven Queen. She was supposed to kill on the Queen's behalf. Kill those that had somehow cheated death, or send her a particular soul that's in some inscrutable way interesting to her. Each miserable soul she dispatched to the Shadowfell would give the Queen more power, and she might share that power with her fledgling recruit. With another sharp chill, she collapsed, asleep.
When she awoke again, there was a beautiful Katana in front of her. It's blade was dull ashy gray, and the handle was wrapped with a black, leathery material. Several days had passed, and she was far from home. She has spent the following 4 or 5 years wandering from villages to cities, staying in a town until the even the shadiest tavern would refuse to serve her. She communicates with her criminal network, especially the thin, pale Baltar, preferring to take murder contracts. Whenever she felt a slight coolness in the handle of her Katana, she was given the confidence to carry it out, feeling in her soul that the target deserved to die. Rarely, the handle would get very warm, and in her discomfort, she would call it off. Even if she needed the gold.
As years passed, a wellspring of mystical energy grew, and she could cast spells. Shadows would seek her out on occasion, and her powers and abilities would grow. Black Ravens sometimes appeared at her killsites, and she grew to seek them out. She began to call her sword ShadowReaver. She spent time with it, whispering to it, sharing her memories and nightmares. After she killed with it, the blade would darken for a while, and the handle would get a deep reddish tint. She was connected to it, and in some way, it was connected to her.
Over the handful of years she has been engaged in her blade pact, she has struggled with her mistakes and emptiness of her miserable past, and the equally lonely existence she sees before her. Her sword craves blood. Her damaged psyche wants alcohol. Her soul, on the other hand, seeks redemption.
The blood - and the alcohol - are much closer at hand.
That's wonderful.
This is probably donne intenionally both description and notes hidden from the players (dunno if this also count for DM) so players can still have secret/unknown to other players.
Nox - Adult Oblex - The Trials
Jartrin Ephok - Dragonborn - Zanoliv
Bunol - Grim Angel - The Floating Lands of Goriate
Good point... But I would think the visual description would be ok? I mean, if your character has disguses, or uses spells or invocations to change their appearance, then you'd have to be careful what you post, but otherwise?
Can you explain the spiritual weapon hex EB combos you refer to plus how pushing or pulling will help? Thanks trying to figure out what to do with mine.
Basically as a Raven Queen warlock you get two spells:
Hex
Spiritual Weapon
They stack very well because while Hex requires concentration....spiritual weapon does not.
So you get extra damage from Hex (1d6 necrotic damage per HIT) from your eldritch blast and any other to hit effect.
Spiritual Weapon does 1d8 + spell modifier so you could be doing at 5th level:
2d10( add +8 if you took agonizing blast) + (1d8+4 Spiritual Weapon) + 3d6 (Hex damage= two hits from EB and one hit from Spiritual Weapon)
Which would be an average of 32.5 damage per round with Agonizing Blast
Or
24.5 average damage without Agonizing Blast
Really the nice thing about the subclass is that you are very versatile as you can scout as a raven, do damage in a fight, protect an important NPC with Sanctuary, and speak with the dead when you accidentally kill that last guard.
Speak with dead?
Appreciate the guidance.
Its a spell that lets you talk with an animated corpse of a dead creature. It is a fun little spell that you can recharge on a short rest as a Raven Queen Warlock.
Also one more thing as I was looking at your spell suggestions.
How do EB and spirutual hammer happen in the same round?
Hex takes an action , then it's concentration from there.
Overall it would take two rounds to set up:
1st Round:
Bonus Action: Hex (Concentration)
Action: Eldritch blast
2nd round:
Bonus Action: Spiritual Weapon
Action: Eldritch Blast
Hex and Spiritual Weapon are both bonus action spells which allows you to cast a action spell as long as it is a cantrip (Eldritch Blast).
Thanks. Still learning about when you get a bonus action
You are immune to damage at level 6 when you merge right?
That doesn't seem right. I thought damage would make you revert back.
I think its never been discussed too much. Seems that it would be more balanced to say that you are not. If you are hit I would treat it like Polymorph and you would revert from the Raven Form and you would get advantage on all hits on the creature that killed it.
I read a discussion that quoted the language of UA. It said something like treat it as if it were perched. Meaning immune. Consensus was that it was overpowered that way.
My reading is that the raven is immune ONLY while perched on YOUR shoulder, not when merged.
"While perched on your shoulder, the raven can’t be
targeted by any attack or other harmful effect;
only you can cast spells on it; it can’t take
damage; and it is incapacitated."
When you merge with the Raven you and it are one and you/it are no longer on your shoulder. Therefore you/it are not immune. They write this:
"During this time, you gain the benefits of your
raven being perched on your shoulder."
So what are the benefits of your raven being perched on your shoulder?
You can argue you get both the list of benefits to the warlock and the list of raven benefits. BUT on the raven list is the fact that you are incapacitated.
Yet the merge power says you can use your actions to do a list of things.
You don't get an action if you are incapacitated. Therefore, it's pretty obvious you only get the warlock benefits of perching (30ft darkvision, perception bonuses), and not the raven list (effectivly immune to harm but incapacitated)
To rule you are immune while merged you really also have to rule you are incapacitated.
I would agree with your analysis.