Blackguards - BG's Dipping Sauce.

[Wolfrayne]

Honestly anything to give it some more Oomph at a higher level would be great. Maybe give them some kind of weapon focus feats for their Deities weapon or something?

[ShineDown]

I know it's far harder than I am about to suggest but how about just make it a class rather than a prc and balance it with the paladin in progression.

[ShineDown]

K I knew I'd seen it someplace before. This was sigils base bg class build. Don't know what you guys look for but something at least to show.

[Xorena]

Slight tangent: Are there any areas where smite good would be useful against creatures that are hostile? I don't know a lot of the places on the server well but it seems like there would be very few.

[PlayerDrivenRP]

Slight tangent: Are there any areas where smite good would be useful against creatures that are hostile? I don't know a lot of the places on the server well but it seems like there would be very few.

PvP on a server that is not about PvP....I have not seen any use otherwise.

[ShineDown]

Slight tangent: Are there any areas where smite good would be useful against creatures that are hostile? I don't know a lot of the places on the server well but it seems like there would be very few.

None come to mind.

[AlwaysSummer Day]

Blink dogs are good aligned iirc

[Kaeldre]

I don't like the idea of making blackguard a base class, i think it fits better as a PrC class. However, I would definitely support the decision to make later levels more lucrative.

https://nwn2.fandom.com/wiki/Blackguard

I do like the idea of making blackguards more suited towards summoning, since it's very thematic. Perhaps making the type of summons constant, based on the PC's alignment inclination (Lawful, neutral & chaotic). I would personally like the blackguard to be able to summon beings of that specific type from a limited roster, where more options become available as the blackguard gains in class level.

I think the key to this concept is making the summon worthwhile throughout the game. A good way to do this might be to have static summons until the PC reaches class level 10. At this point, let the summons scale with the PC's character level. This means that the summons wont become redundant, and thus will be used throughout the PC's adventures. I also like the idea of the class giving bonuses to both the PC and the summon.

[metaquad4]

Requirements: BAB 6, 5 Lore: The Planes, 4 Spellcraft, 4 Intimidate, 2 Hide.
HD/BAB remain the same. Spellcraft is added as a class skill.

1-Use Poison, Summon Fiendish Companion.
2-Smite Good 1/day, Dark Blessing.
3-Aura of Despair, Turn Undead, Blackguard Spellbook Tier 1.
4-Sneak Attack 2d6, Summon Undead Servant.
5-Bonus Feat, Exceptional Turning.
6-Blackguard Spellbook Tier 2
7-Bonus Feat, Mastery of Energy.
8-Sneak Attack 4d6, Widen Aura of Despair.
9-Blackguard Spellbook Tier 3, Empower Aura of Despair.
10-Empower Turning, Turn Outsider, Dominate Evil.

Summon Undead Servant:
Summons an undead servant, who scales with your blackguard levels. At Blackguard 10, it scales with your character level up to level 20.
It can be your choice of:
-Ghost. (Sneak Attacker/Flanker)
-Dread Wraith. (Stat/Level Drainer)
-Mummy Lord. (Spellcaster/Disease Spreader)
-Ghast. (Fighter/Poison Spreader)
-Vampire Warrior. (Tanky Fighter)

Blackguard Spellbook Tier 1 (3/Day, +1 per point of CHA Mod to a cap of Blackguard Level):
A choice of:
-Bull's Strength.
-Eagle's Spendor.
-Animate Dead.
-Wrack.
-Infestation of Maggots.
DCs are equal to 10+Blackguard Caster Level+CHA Mod.

Blackguard Spellbook Tier 2 (3/Day, +1 per 2 points of CHA Mod to a cap of Blackguard Level):
-Enervate.
-Negative Energy Burst.
-Poison.
-Ray of Enfeeblement.
-Otherworldly Leap.
DCs are equal to 10+Blackguard Caster Level+CHA Mod.

Blackguard Spellbook Tier 3 (3/Day, +1 per 3 points of CHA Mod to a cap of Blackguard Level):
-Abberant Claw.
-Abyssal Might.
-Unholy Storm.
-Witch Sight.
-Cascading Plague.
DCs are equal to 10+Blackguard Caster Level+CHA Mod.

Summon Fiendish Companion:
The Blackguard can summon a choice of:
Level 1-3: Fiendish Animal
Level 4-6: Evil creature from Lesser Planar Binding's pool.
7-9: Evil creature from Planar Binding's pool.
10: Evil creature from Greater Planar Binding's pool.

This creature acts as an animal companion, bonding with the Blackguard. It levels up as an animal companion would, scaling with Character Level to a max of (5+Blackguard Level+CHA Mod).

Bonus Feat:
The blackguard gets a bonus feat, drawn from either any Spellcasting or Divine feat they qualify for.

Widen Aura of Despair:
Aura of Despair now affects enemies in a 100 ft area.

Empower Aura of Despair:
Aura of Despair now forces the opponent to suffer -4 to all saves.

Dominate Evil:
The blackguard can expend a use of turn undead to dominate an evil creature, bending it to their will. Target evil creature must make a check as if turned. If the target fails their check, then they are dominated by the blackguard.

Because of the toll this ability takes on the mind of the target, if the target succeeds their check, then they must make a will save equal to the blackguard's Caster Level+CHA+10. If they fail this will save, then they are confused.

New Feats:
Spellcasting Feats -
Maximize Blackguard Spell:
This feat can be used 3/day. The next Blackguard spell you cast is maximized.

Empower Blackguard Spell:
This feat can be used 3/day. The next Blackguard spell you cast is empowered.

Extend Blackguard Spell:
This feat can be used 3/day. The next Blackguard spell you cast is extended.

Blackguard Spellbook Focus:
All blackguard spellbook spells gain +1 DC.

Epic Blackguard Spellbook Focus:
Requires: Level 21
All blackguard spellbook spells gain a further +1 DC, stacking with Blackguard Spellbook Focus.

Extra Blackguard Spells (I, II, III, IV, and V):
You gain 2 extra uses of all blackguard spellbooks each time you take this feat.

[wurdpass]

The above, or some form of it, would be a very cool addition I would be excited to play.

[Wolfrayne]

I was under the impression the Feats for making the next spell cast X metamagic was impossible to do. Based on me asking about it previously. But yeah some kind if iteration of the above would be ok. Even as i said before some more toys to play with at higher levels and such would make it more appealing

[Endelyon]

It's not mechanically impossible, Kaedrin made feats for adding metamagic to Eldritch blasts, it would be extremely similar in function to this. Special code in the spells to manually extend/maximize/empower the results if the feat had been activated. I'm not greenlighting or advocating any proposed changes, mind you, just explaining what's possible.

[Hendrak]

I ve seen that late BG levels already got an improvement.

They get extra smite and their fiend and undead companion can be called at the same time with each max HD 15.

I dont play much with summons.

Any opinion on the summons? Are they worth the BG level investment or are they monster food after level 20?

Edit: I see giving the class better caster levels for only 10 class levels is quite imbalanced. Also it would be a break with server philosophy to allow a PrC to gain levels after 10th.

I still think best approach is a minor negative dmg bonus and Vfx when inflict light wound and inflict heavy wound is reached and to tinker with the summons.

Like "Epic Fiend Feat" allowing summon hd to get up to 24 and BG spells also automatically affect BG summons (e.g.Bulls Strength).

[Wolfrayne]

15HD would be fine if the max lvl was say 20. But we can get all the way up to 30 which makes it useless.

[electric mayhem]

Seems to be the plight of the caster summoner class. Those that dive too deep into summoning on this server, also require ALOT of healing and buffs to keep them alive, because in epics, they just don't cut the mustard. At least when measured over a respectable length PvE session.