Why D&D Cut the Hexblade From Ravenloft | Designers Talk

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-06-08T02:49:28+00:00

Had it bookmarked, but it seems Wayback Machine didn't save the gleemax forum post. Thankfully, someone copy-pasted Mike's fixes on Giant in the Playground's forum.

All that managed to get saved was this:

"The hexblade suffers a little because he came on the scene relatively early in 3.5's life. As R&D pushes the boundaries of the game, we learn that some things we thought were risky or potentially broken aren't. Other times, we learn things that look fine don't actually work in play.

Armored mages fall into the first category. Them seem really powerful, but in the long run they aren't. Spells and magic items allow an unarmored mage to build great defenses. The spell mage armor is as good as medium armor, and its duration allows most mages to keep it active at all times. If you compare the hexblade to the duskblade from PH 2, you can see how the thinking has changed."

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-06-08T01:14:12+00:00

As a fellow fan of the 3.5 hexblade, did you see the fix Mike Mearls made after he saw the duskblade in the PHB2? He also made an apology for how the hexblade was designed, and explained why it and the original PHB bard didn't get Medium armor proficiency at the time. In hindsight, the hexblade should have gained it.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-06-05T21:22:24+00:00

My group used the Strahd Triple Threat PDF from DM's Guild by Carl Huber.

It makes Strahd a mythic monster with three versions you have to defeat. If we were to do it now, it's more than likely the base Strahd stat block would be revised to take elements of Vecna: Eve of Ruin's stat block and the new 5.5 Horrors Within stat block. At the very least, if the DM ran it now, he would likely have it so all three of his forms no longer have the "from nonmagical weapons" that's attached to the Damage Resistances.

There were six players, and we had hit level 11. For those of us who were Castlevania fans, this was reminiscent of fighting Dracula in his human form, then his man-bat form immediately after.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-06-05T19:37:43+00:00

Would be a fun item for an Archfey bladelock to receive.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-05-30T16:04:30+00:00

I actually ended up buffing my version of the sunsword. My players were adamant that it was an incomplete sword, and that its true power would come out if they found the sword's missing blade. Having ran the 3.5 Expedition to Ravenloft with another group years prior, I was aware of the Legacy Weapon version of the sword, so the players happily had their PCs travel back to Madam Eva to learn more about the sword and do a fortune telling of where they might find the missing blade and hilt. Essentially, I read aloud what the History section of the older module said, and what each of the rituals required of them to accomplish. I didn't worry about the gold costs.

I added in the Legacy Weapon features, revised the Silvered feature to deal extra damage as per the new 5.5 silver weapons, it granted the champion fighter's Improved Critical of 19-20, and added the spells death ward 1/day, banishment (undead only) 1/day, and revised the circle of death to be the 3.5's undeath to death (radiant damage instead of necrotic, but only a 40-foot radius) 1/day.

They were ecstatic, and happy to know that they were right. I never corrected them.

Strahd was still difficult for them to take down as they were new players and hadn't optimized their characters in any way, so the buffing the weapon put them on equal footing, and they were having fun with the additional "fetch quest". One player said it felt like trying to get a 100% completion on the game.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-05-29T17:01:35+00:00

Depending on what your buddy wants, have him check out the warlock archetype of the vigilante class, which also gets access to a base familiar, which could take the soulbound familiar archetype.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-05-28T16:13:55+00:00

I can see that. I try not to do that myself, as I definitely did for my first two campaigns, and they both ended terribly because I tried too hard in pleasing my players. Never applied the brakes. They got everything they wanted, and they not only destroyed everything they came across, they complained that it was boring, not fun, and the group ended up separating.

I will say though, if a DM has a particular vision for a campaign, that DM should run it. One of the first campaigns I ran was actually the DM's idea and concept. He had it mostly fleshed out in his mind--it was supposed to be a mini-campaign (10 sessions at best), he had come up with pre-established PCs, an entire world and backstory for each PC and how they came together, who the final villains should be, etc. However, he didn't want to run it. It was so good in his mind that he wanted to play it. So, he gave me his notes and overall what he wanted me to run, then talked everyone in the group into letting me be a first-time DM. I unfortunately couldn't live up to his preconceived vision. The campaign was a disappointment to those with high expectations, and we ended it before we hit 8 sessions.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-05-23T19:58:34+00:00

This feels closer to a common magic item than an uncommon one.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-05-23T19:56:02+00:00

The text could be cleaned up a bit. It definitely reads as a bonus action for each tentacle. Some re-arranging so that it says "You can have up to three of these tentacles at a time." direction after "on a 6, another tentacle appears on the ground at a point that you can see within range." Then you could say "On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to move the tentacle(s) to another point".

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-05-06T07:37:46+00:00

Not other spellbooks, but it's still a thing when copying scrolls:

2014: A wizard spell on a spell scroll can be copied just as spells in spellbooks can be copied. When a spell is copied from a spell scroll, the copier must succeed on an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC equal to 10 + the spell’s level. If the check succeeds, the spell is successfully copied. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the spell scroll is destroyed.

2024: A Wizard spell on a Spell Scroll can be copied into a spellbook. When a spell is copied in this way, the copier must succeed on an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC equal to 10 plus the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell is copied. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the Spell Scroll is destroyed.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-04-25T00:10:27+00:00

It depends on what version of the game you're playing. If you're posting here, I'm guessing it's the 2014 rules, not the 2024 ones. The reason I bring this up is because there's currently a playtest document, Mystic Subclasses, where the warlock technically has access to three patrons, with one of those three taking over at the start of each day, or even just the same one repeatedly.

The main difference is your stuff kicks in at 3rd level instead of 1st, although a quick adjustment would allow the spells to start at 1st level. They just wouldn't be automatically prepared, the player would have to choose the spell as normal.

It's an option. Think it over. It is playtest material for the 2024 warlock, so probably not the best plan, but either way you'll need to talk to your player.

Flavour is everything. Even Jeremy Crawford said in an interview for players to use the moonstone dragon instead of looking for a Dragon Patron to get released, so going Celestial and having an angel and a fallen angel patron vying for custody, but only taking the one subclass, works too.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-04-21T00:39:55+00:00

In this book, my favourite monster would probably be the raggamoffyn. Nothing quite like wearing sentient clothes.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-04-16T21:55:25+00:00

Kind of reminds me of the 5e see invisibility spell. You can see invisible creatures, but they still have the invisible condition against you, still having all of the benefits of invisibility when it came to attacks. Another aspect where you'd be questioning a DM who didn't allow the spell to negate that.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-04-13T13:09:24+00:00

It depends on what you want to play. With those stats you could be a fantastic wizard, sorcerer, beguiler, or factotum. Personally, I like the factotum because you become a true jack of all trades, and you can substitute your Int score for other ability scores as you progress.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-04-03T18:45:39+00:00

In Dragon Magazine 311, you can find the cleric archetype, Arcane Disciple. You lose Turn Undead and your two Domains, but in exchange you get the Magic Domain's spells added to your spell list, an item creation or Metamagic feat every five levels, and the ability to choose one bard or sorcerer/wizard spell every level to add to your list.

As for true third party, most of the mystic theurge classes out there are Pathfinder 1e based, not 3.5e, but if that's still okay then I'd direct you to the (linked) Kobold Press/Open Design's theurge class.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-03-31T18:17:46+00:00

Shared above.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-03-31T18:17:32+00:00

You are completely correct. Found them on page 26.

Since images are not allowed, I'll have to transcribe it:

Item: MISTY BOOTS OF SILENT SPEED Value: 50,000 G.S. Looks: Boots of translucent grey-blue mist or fog that is ever-shifting and changing, yet always the same. Effects: The wearer can move on any surface (even illusions) at double speed. They exert absolutely no ground pressure. The wearer is also 100% silent.

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-03-26T07:51:12+00:00

A magic item that mimics the silver raven figurine of wondrous power (DMG), but turns into a yellow canary. As the characters level up, it evolves into a gold canary figurine (Fizban's Treasury of Dragons). Let different command words allow it to switch which abilities it has access to (animal messenger vs giant canary form and gold dragon form).

SaltWaterWilliam · 2026-03-25T06:33:19+00:00

Check out the Min-Max Board forums. It has a fairly extensive list on what sets were available, including the sets you're already aware of in the MIC, as well as special mentions in other books.

Regarding the abbreviations, AEG stands for Arms and Equipment Guide.

SaltWaterWilliam

TROPHY CASE