So I've created a backup character for a campaign I play a Tiefling Paladin, and one of the other players has made a comment how odd it is for a Teifling to be a Paladin, that an Aasimar would make a better Paladin, and the Tiefling would make a great warlock. So for the backup I kinda made a Fallen Aasimar named Morgan, who's patron is a Andras, basically a demon that is a super genius when it comes to killing, named Keith. Morgan is a fun party loving Chaotic Neutral. I'm thinking if I have to play I'm gonna go Pact of the Blade, because the benefits from the DPS features that Hexblade grants. If anyone has any suggestion how to improve this character I'm open to suggestions.
Stats STR = 14. DEX = 13. CON = 14. INT = 11. WIS = 10. CHA = 18. Skills. Arcana, Deception, Insight, and Stealth.
If you're going pure DPS, you're going to to want to look into the invocations Thirsting Blade (two weapon attacks), and Eldritch Smite (new one in Xanathar's, paladin's divine smite but for warlocks basically) at level 5. Also the Lifedrinker invocation, but that's way down the line.
Aside from that, since your Charisma score is gonna be pulling the weight as far as melee is concerned, you can let your Strength slide a bit, maybe swap it for Dex for that AC and initiative bump, or Wis to get more out of one of the warlock's tagged saving throws.
That's just number crunching though, and if you prefer a more athletic build that's good too. Athletics isn't a bad skill to have at all.
What he (Rabbot) said. Unless your aiming for Heavy Armors in the long run, there are more advantages in dumping the 14 in either wis, int or dex for better initiativ and saving throws, which is essential in the long run for survival. And lets not forget the utility in having better skillchecks on noncombat or knowledge skills with higher int or wis.
Rabbot and Duke thank you both for the advice, I honestly wasn't thinking about the strength and wisdom. Unfortunately though, I can only up my wisdom to 13, as Fallen Aasimar get a +1 to Strength, and when I rolled up this character 13,13,14,11,10,16. But I switched around the stats to be like this; STR 11, DEX 13, CON 14, INT 11, WIS 13, CHA 18. Duke I do agree that having no-combat related skills would be very helpful for this character, so I'm definitely gonna be looking into what feats would greatly improve this Hexblade's overall performance. If anyone has any other ideas or curious, here are some details on my Hexblade's backstory:
Morgan Black was once a Protector Aasimar raised in a small but thriving port city, Caerna Sol, he was unknowingly raised by a group of extremists worshipers of Moradin. He became a Fallen Aasimar after destroying about half of the city in response to those who raised him ordering the destruction of the lower class area, sending him into a blood lust. He left Caerna Sol, and eventually found himself a black longsword that had power, and he found it had granted him more powers. Later he joined a guild that allowed him to make coin as either a bounty hunter, bodyguard, or whatever the job required. Morgan has spent most of his life trying to enjoy himself, partying, or fighting either works for him.
Actually Duke I was wondering if you had any ideas on improving Morgan's contract with his patron, as I'm still having some slight issue understanding how Hexblade patrons work, I'm guessing that from what I've been seeing in other threads that warlock patrons are a bit more demanding than deities of paladins and clerics.
Yeah sadly, hexblade is the most vague about what exactly your patron is and what it wants from you.
"You have made your pact with a mysterious entity from the Shadowfell — a force that manifests in sentient magic weapons carved from the stuff of shadow." Literally out of Xanathar's itself.
Not exactly very descriptive. Kinda lacks the direct and punchy flavor of other warlocks, where it's all devils and fey and angels, oh my. Reading up on the Shadowfell, though, it seems heavily associated with necrotic energy, and is inhabited by lots of undead things such as spectres and banshees. Also noted in Xanathar's is the Raven Queen (a goddess of death) was the first to weave the dark magic of the Shadowfell into an enchanted weapon. (Side note on the Raven Queen association, the Shadar-Kai live there too, which she created, and those guys are basically the dark n edgy elves that aren't drow, far as I can tell with a cursory glance at best)
Basically what I'm getting from all this is the hexblade seems to be your typical paladin's goth cousin. Which, funnily enough, seems so very fitting to me for a FALLEN aasimar specifically.
So yeah there's a base for you to build on. Maybe your patron is a spirit, or a dark elf, no not that kind, that reached out to the prime material plane.
Thanks Rabbot this actually could help me out greatly in the long run, I'll have to talk more specifies with my DM at some point but having these ideas going in is a huge help thanks a bunch.
To be honest, I should be thanking you as well. I had a hexblade in mind and had struggled to figure out the patron deal. Helping you motivated me to actually look into the Shadowfell and gave me a few ideas of my own, ha.
Hi again! As for feats, if you are going for Pact of the Blade, I suggest either upping your stats to get better attacks and skills, or choose a weapon feat (depending on your weapon ofc). But on higher levels, if you choose the right invocations (Well Hello There, Improved Pact Blade and Thirsting Blade, we wuvz you) Id go for a polearm and then either Polearm Master, Great Weapon Master or Sentinel. As far as Ive read, those are the prefered feats for a melee oriented HexBlade. Quite awesome to be able to pin foes 10 feet away from you while still being able to hit them with that big long razorsharp pokestick. With the right stats and setup, a HexBlade using the right curses can easily do 60+ damage with his pokestick each round after round 2 or 3. That is against a high HP target ofc.
As for the patron, our campaign isnt highly influenced by neither patrons or gods. For my HexBlade I got the powers from the RavenQueen if I promised to hunt down sentient undeads. She gives me powers to help me reach my goals while I help her deciding the fate and end of the things she hate. My DM has yet to demand anything else from me and lets me freely (based on my own research) dictate or at least retell what my character feels the RQ demands of me. Being a Chaotic Good Tiefling HexBlade is a bit of a contradiction in itself lorewise, but makes for many good RPing sessions with my partymates.
Haha. Fallen Aasimar do indeed make beautiful Hexblades! I currently play one myself at level four. His backstory was that upon being born the local church knew of his celestial heratige and stole him away so he could become a champion of their Faith. Which he hated and resented his entire life. Being forced into religion wasn't his cup of tea.
So one day he found a way to commune with an elder god, hoping to find a way out so the church wouldn't try to hunt him down. The elder god (who is a currently dead god of death, which is a whole other subject!) Gave him the powers of a hexblade and helped him free himself. Endrik (my hexblade) is now devoted to this dead god of death and is trying to reform its religion base while championing what he beleives is the gods cause. He doesn't actually know as he cant talk to death, but he still goes around searching for sentient undead who try to avoid death to usher their souls.
Roll gods blessed him so he ended up with a 20 Cha among other high stats. Other then Constatution (which is already high at a 15) I have no reason to pump ASIs, which lead to me nabbing polearm master and having his glaive appear like a Scythe for that edgy flavor (not practical weapons, but when its made of magic who cares!) And by level 6 he'll start his treck into a Paladin to further his devotion to his god and champion his cause. (Probably a retheemed Ancient as their anti spellcaster stuff fits well against sentient undead.)
Currently his favorite thing to do is teleport into the center of a group of enemies and activate his racial to terrify them. Been good fun (and good damage!).
Personally one of my favourites is a Fallen Aasimar Hexblade Warlock/Bear Totem Barbarian, here's why:
You were cast out by the Celestials and seek revenge, so you make a pact with a creature that claims to know how to get revenge, and he curses you. Unknowing of how to control your new powers you try and blend in amongst people keeping your pact secret. You come to think that your emotions may be the key to controlling your pact power, so the next encounter you remove your facade and manifest an angry form of your pact power
How to play this character based around the backstory:
- Tell your party you are a human wizard, keep your true identity secret
- When you get to level 3, take a barb level and use your Necrotic Shroud and Rage at the same time
Fallen Aasimar isn't the best variant, but the +1 to strength is great for this build, bear totem so you can be in the front lines, emit fear to your enemies, and at level 3 you'd be doing 2d8+1d12+str +Rage damage +3 Necrotic damage, assuming standard array Strength mod was +3 and Rage damage is +2, lowest amount of damage caused is 11, highest is 36 assuming I counted right
I chose a fallen aasimar hexblade with a homebrew harlequin mask as the sentient object my character made a pact with, and thus lost all identity and sense of self when equipping. The mask's mouth, eye holes, and even nostrils act as an entrance to a pocket dimension for pulling out, and sheathing weapons, gotta eat a different weapon whole if i want the pact weapon to change form and damage. To break the curse all she has to do is apply paint and/or makeup to make the mask look like her real face. But A, she forgot what she looks like or who she was, and B, the mask reverts to all white when it changes shape for facial expressions (like Hexadecimal's masks from season 1 Reboot).
Unfortunately i rolled my stats so no point buy.
13 str, 12 dex, 15 con, 10 int, 7 wis, 17 cha
So it isn't all that bright, and being nigh pure chaotic/insane, there's a lot of flavor to play with.
Since the origin of the Hexblade pact is so vague it can basically be whatever you want.
My Hexblade (Drow Urban Bounty Hunter) is a client of the Saint of Swords, who appears as a pale beautiful Elven woman with vivid blue eyes, who always carries an unsheathed silver longsword. Her Swords administer justice in her name, slaying the wicked, and protecting the weak. In effect they're Paladins, but for an angelic entity rather than a god.
So I've created a backup character for a campaign I play a Tiefling Paladin, and one of the other players has made a comment how odd it is for a Teifling to be a Paladin, that an Aasimar would make a better Paladin, and the Tiefling would make a great warlock. So for the backup I kinda made a Fallen Aasimar named Morgan, who's patron is a Andras, basically a demon that is a super genius when it comes to killing, named Keith. Morgan is a fun party loving Chaotic Neutral. I'm thinking if I have to play I'm gonna go Pact of the Blade, because the benefits from the DPS features that Hexblade grants. If anyone has any suggestion how to improve this character I'm open to suggestions.
Stats STR = 14. DEX = 13. CON = 14. INT = 11. WIS = 10. CHA = 18. Skills. Arcana, Deception, Insight, and Stealth.
Background: Urban Bounty Hunter. Pact Weapon: Longsword. Eldritch Invocations: Agonizing Blast, & Improved Pact Weapon. Cantrips: Eldritch Blast & Chilled Touch. Spells: Hellish Rebuke, Comprehend Languages, Expeditious Retreat, and Misty Step.
If anyone can think of ways to improve this build, because I'm trying to go pure DPS.
If you're going pure DPS, you're going to to want to look into the invocations Thirsting Blade (two weapon attacks), and Eldritch Smite (new one in Xanathar's, paladin's divine smite but for warlocks basically) at level 5. Also the Lifedrinker invocation, but that's way down the line.
Aside from that, since your Charisma score is gonna be pulling the weight as far as melee is concerned, you can let your Strength slide a bit, maybe swap it for Dex for that AC and initiative bump, or Wis to get more out of one of the warlock's tagged saving throws.
That's just number crunching though, and if you prefer a more athletic build that's good too. Athletics isn't a bad skill to have at all.
What he (Rabbot) said. Unless your aiming for Heavy Armors in the long run, there are more advantages in dumping the 14 in either wis, int or dex for better initiativ and saving throws, which is essential in the long run for survival. And lets not forget the utility in having better skillchecks on noncombat or knowledge skills with higher int or wis.
Rabbot and Duke thank you both for the advice, I honestly wasn't thinking about the strength and wisdom. Unfortunately though, I can only up my wisdom to 13, as Fallen Aasimar get a +1 to Strength, and when I rolled up this character 13,13,14,11,10,16. But I switched around the stats to be like this; STR 11, DEX 13, CON 14, INT 11, WIS 13, CHA 18. Duke I do agree that having no-combat related skills would be very helpful for this character, so I'm definitely gonna be looking into what feats would greatly improve this Hexblade's overall performance.
If anyone has any other ideas or curious, here are some details on my Hexblade's backstory:
Morgan Black was once a Protector Aasimar raised in a small but thriving port city, Caerna Sol, he was unknowingly raised by a group of extremists worshipers of Moradin. He became a Fallen Aasimar after destroying about half of the city in response to those who raised him ordering the destruction of the lower class area, sending him into a blood lust. He left Caerna Sol, and eventually found himself a black longsword that had power, and he found it had granted him more powers. Later he joined a guild that allowed him to make coin as either a bounty hunter, bodyguard, or whatever the job required. Morgan has spent most of his life trying to enjoy himself, partying, or fighting either works for him.
Actually Duke I was wondering if you had any ideas on improving Morgan's contract with his patron, as I'm still having some slight issue understanding how Hexblade patrons work, I'm guessing that from what I've been seeing in other threads that warlock patrons are a bit more demanding than deities of paladins and clerics.
Yeah sadly, hexblade is the most vague about what exactly your patron is and what it wants from you.
"You have made your pact with a mysterious entity from the Shadowfell — a force that manifests in sentient magic weapons carved from the stuff of shadow." Literally out of Xanathar's itself.
Not exactly very descriptive. Kinda lacks the direct and punchy flavor of other warlocks, where it's all devils and fey and angels, oh my. Reading up on the Shadowfell, though, it seems heavily associated with necrotic energy, and is inhabited by lots of undead things such as spectres and banshees. Also noted in Xanathar's is the Raven Queen (a goddess of death) was the first to weave the dark magic of the Shadowfell into an enchanted weapon. (Side note on the Raven Queen association, the Shadar-Kai live there too, which she created, and those guys are basically the dark n edgy elves that aren't drow, far as I can tell with a cursory glance at best)
Basically what I'm getting from all this is the hexblade seems to be your typical paladin's goth cousin. Which, funnily enough, seems so very fitting to me for a FALLEN aasimar specifically.
So yeah there's a base for you to build on. Maybe your patron is a spirit, or a dark elf, no not that kind, that reached out to the prime material plane.
Thanks Rabbot this actually could help me out greatly in the long run, I'll have to talk more specifies with my DM at some point but having these ideas going in is a huge help thanks a bunch.
To be honest, I should be thanking you as well. I had a hexblade in mind and had struggled to figure out the patron deal. Helping you motivated me to actually look into the Shadowfell and gave me a few ideas of my own, ha.
Well happy to have given you some food for thought than, I suppose.
Hi again! As for feats, if you are going for Pact of the Blade, I suggest either upping your stats to get better attacks and skills, or choose a weapon feat (depending on your weapon ofc). But on higher levels, if you choose the right invocations (Well Hello There, Improved Pact Blade and Thirsting Blade, we wuvz you) Id go for a polearm and then either Polearm Master, Great Weapon Master or Sentinel. As far as Ive read, those are the prefered feats for a melee oriented HexBlade. Quite awesome to be able to pin foes 10 feet away from you while still being able to hit them with that big long razorsharp pokestick. With the right stats and setup, a HexBlade using the right curses can easily do 60+ damage with his pokestick each round after round 2 or 3. That is against a high HP target ofc.
As for the patron, our campaign isnt highly influenced by neither patrons or gods. For my HexBlade I got the powers from the RavenQueen if I promised to hunt down sentient undeads. She gives me powers to help me reach my goals while I help her deciding the fate and end of the things she hate. My DM has yet to demand anything else from me and lets me freely (based on my own research) dictate or at least retell what my character feels the RQ demands of me. Being a Chaotic Good Tiefling HexBlade is a bit of a contradiction in itself lorewise, but makes for many good RPing sessions with my partymates.
Haha. Fallen Aasimar do indeed make beautiful Hexblades! I currently play one myself at level four. His backstory was that upon being born the local church knew of his celestial heratige and stole him away so he could become a champion of their Faith. Which he hated and resented his entire life. Being forced into religion wasn't his cup of tea.
So one day he found a way to commune with an elder god, hoping to find a way out so the church wouldn't try to hunt him down. The elder god (who is a currently dead god of death, which is a whole other subject!) Gave him the powers of a hexblade and helped him free himself. Endrik (my hexblade) is now devoted to this dead god of death and is trying to reform its religion base while championing what he beleives is the gods cause. He doesn't actually know as he cant talk to death, but he still goes around searching for sentient undead who try to avoid death to usher their souls.
Roll gods blessed him so he ended up with a 20 Cha among other high stats. Other then Constatution (which is already high at a 15) I have no reason to pump ASIs, which lead to me nabbing polearm master and having his glaive appear like a Scythe for that edgy flavor (not practical weapons, but when its made of magic who cares!) And by level 6 he'll start his treck into a Paladin to further his devotion to his god and champion his cause. (Probably a retheemed Ancient as their anti spellcaster stuff fits well against sentient undead.)
Currently his favorite thing to do is teleport into the center of a group of enemies and activate his racial to terrify them. Been good fun (and good damage!).
Personally one of my favourites is a Fallen Aasimar Hexblade Warlock/Bear Totem Barbarian, here's why:
You were cast out by the Celestials and seek revenge, so you make a pact with a creature that claims to know how to get revenge, and he curses you. Unknowing of how to control your new powers you try and blend in amongst people keeping your pact secret. You come to think that your emotions may be the key to controlling your pact power, so the next encounter you remove your facade and manifest an angry form of your pact power
How to play this character based around the backstory:
- Tell your party you are a human wizard, keep your true identity secret
- When you get to level 3, take a barb level and use your Necrotic Shroud and Rage at the same time
Fallen Aasimar isn't the best variant, but the +1 to strength is great for this build, bear totem so you can be in the front lines, emit fear to your enemies, and at level 3 you'd be doing 2d8+1d12+str +Rage damage +3 Necrotic damage, assuming standard array Strength mod was +3 and Rage damage is +2, lowest amount of damage caused is 11, highest is 36 assuming I counted right
I chose a fallen aasimar hexblade with a homebrew harlequin mask as the sentient object my character made a pact with, and thus lost all identity and sense of self when equipping. The mask's mouth, eye holes, and even nostrils act as an entrance to a pocket dimension for pulling out, and sheathing weapons, gotta eat a different weapon whole if i want the pact weapon to change form and damage. To break the curse all she has to do is apply paint and/or makeup to make the mask look like her real face. But A, she forgot what she looks like or who she was, and B, the mask reverts to all white when it changes shape for facial expressions (like Hexadecimal's masks from season 1 Reboot).
Unfortunately i rolled my stats so no point buy.
13 str, 12 dex, 15 con, 10 int, 7 wis, 17 cha
So it isn't all that bright, and being nigh pure chaotic/insane, there's a lot of flavor to play with.
Since the origin of the Hexblade pact is so vague it can basically be whatever you want.
My Hexblade (Drow Urban Bounty Hunter) is a client of the Saint of Swords, who appears as a pale beautiful Elven woman with vivid blue eyes, who always carries an unsheathed silver longsword. Her Swords administer justice in her name, slaying the wicked, and protecting the weak. In effect they're Paladins, but for an angelic entity rather than a god.
I played a fall aasimar hex blade. My patron was Blackrazor which I acquired in white plume mountain. He was bad ass.