Duskblade and witch in 3.5 ravenloft?

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Nox
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Duskblade and witch in 3.5 ravenloft?

Post by Nox »

Hi all! One of my player wanna play Duskblade.. Since most of the classes has some difference from his brother from the phb how would you adapt a Duskblade (phb2) in the ravenloft universe?

The other new entry will going to play a witch, a nice choice IMHO in this settings.. Is the wizard the only choice she has or there are something more specific to play a witch? And how should I adapt it if it is not adopted yet?
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Re: Duskblade and witch in 3.5 ravenloft?

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

I'm not familiar with the Duskblade, but here's a previous thread on it:
http://fraternityofshadows.com/forum/vi ... 7&p=155668

For a witch, I like the Pathfinder Witch class:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/adva ... witch.html

Though if the rest of your game is 3.5, you'll have to tweak it a bit, since it's PF-based.

Van Richten's Arsenal has the Hallowed Witch prestige class. I don't recall the entry requirements for it, but I think in 2e, it was kind of a wizard/cleric hybrid. (don't have my books at hand right now..)
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Re: Duskblade and witch in 3.5 ravenloft?

Post by Ender »

The Voodan from Dark Tales and Disturbing Legends can also be tweaked to make it feel more like a witch. Depending on what she wants to do with the witch, you could also use the Dread Necromancer from Heroes of Horror but, man, would that base class call for powers checks galore. If you're looking for something simpler, a Sorcerer is a really good chasis for a witch (if you're looking for spontaneous casting as opposed to a wizard's prepared casting), but I'd look at some alternate class features for it to give it the appropriate feel. Heck, Druids can make good witches, too.
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Re: Duskblade and witch in 3.5 ravenloft?

Post by The Lesser Evil »

Did you see the witch variant spell list in the DMG? (edit: p. 175)
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Re: Duskblade and witch in 3.5 ravenloft?

Post by The Lesser Evil »

Duskblades shouldn't be a problem mechanically as they don't have any special abilities the Land of Mists would screw with other than spells. As with other spellcasting classes, make sure you know how the Demiplane of Dread affects spells. Base treatment of the new spells from the PHB2 based on the general spell guidelines. (For example, all of the new Dimension ___ spells won't let you cross domain borders. As a necromancy spell, Blade of Blood will require a Powers Check, etc.)

Thematically, Duskblades are a bit harder. Going with the default background leaves you with them likely restricted to Darkon or Sithicus. With the grim, “product of a bygone era”, a duskblade could fit either of those domains well. A Darkonian duskblade would likely come from the old, graveyard city of Neblus, where he might trace the class’ origins back to a previous era of Darkonian false history. (See Gaz II.) In Sithicus, the arcane caste is slowly reemerging with the vanishing of the Black Rose (Lord Soth.) A Sithican duskblade might trace the class’ origins to the old Arcane caste and pick up the craft as a resistance against Azrael Dak and his forces. Such a character is likely to be grim and fatalistic, hanging onto the glories of the ancient past as the general Sithican populace hangs onto the material creations of the past. Alternate, non-elf origins for the Duskblade might come from Hazlan, perhaps an order of arcane knights among the Mulani whom perform duties held in too high a regard for the Rashemi.

I would avoid using the Dread Necromancer, as that class will likely revert to NPC status fairly quickly given its specialties and spell lists. The beguiler (PHB2) could work if you wanted a witch to focus on a trickster/illusion type witch or one whom beguiles the mind. If you wanted to go with special, witch like powers instead of casting spells, the warlock from Complete Arcane might work. Quoth the Raven Issue 13 has RL adaptations for Complete Arcane stuff in it.
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Re: Duskblade and witch in 3.5 ravenloft?

Post by Skyrock »

Duskblades could simply be tied to Sithicus or Darkon if you care for the fluff about elves.

As for the witch, why not simply a Cleric of Hala as a baseline? Make her a Cloistered Cleric from UA and exchange Magic Domain for Spell Domain (which gives you access to the Anyspell line, which is great for mixing some arcane magic in, and also Mage Armor which makes her survivable with the loss of armor).
Warlock works nicely too, and can also be easily meshed with a cleric thanks to Eldritch Disciple.
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Re: Duskblade and witch in 3.5 ravenloft?

Post by Ender »

Huh. Somehow I'd forgotten entirely about the Warlock class. That's a good choice, too, if mechanically a bit weak.

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Re: Duskblade and witch in 3.5 ravenloft?

Post by Skyrock »

Warlocks can be quite capable as the secondary half of a theurge build (either Eldritch Theurge for arcane or Eldritch Disciple for divine). Eldritch Blast and the invocations can cover a lot of re-occuring problems like hitting people, seeing invisible or flying without spending resources, while the spells provide flexibility and earlier access to higher-powered spell effects.
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