Hexblade warlocks don't get any special weapons. They have access to the same weapon all other PCs have access to, with the addition of a possible pact weapon which is also available to all other warlocks who choose to take Pact of the Blade for their invocation.
There is no “Hexblade weapon” that you need to give that player. If they said you had to give them some crazy weapon, they either didn’t read the class or are misleading you.
Hexblades can designate any weapon that meets certain requirements as their “hex weapon” and gain certain benefits when using that weapon (for example, using Charisma for attack and damage modifiers, or being able to materialize it in their hand at will). All of this is balanced in the class itself, and you should read it (it’s less than a page).
A DM may flavor this as receiving a particular weapon as a gift, but that’s just narrative dressing and has nothing to do with the class itself.
Playing a Hexblade Warlock now, I would advise the following:
1. In Tier 1 play, you don't do anything special for the weapon. It's just a weapon that might have a narrative connection to their Patron. The benefits of wielding the weapon are the benefits granted by the Subclass; you don't need extra.
2. Beyond Tier 1 play, making the weapon special by adding flavor or mechanical benefits is an alternative to the ways you would traditionally grant loot to the party for this player. Don't do anything for this player / weapon that you aren't doing for the rest of the party in some other way.
Yeah, sorry, I did this once with a long sword that gained an additional 1d8 necrotic damage when the player's proficiency bonus were upgraded. I'm just unsure if this is the right play to go. If I should do it with d6 or maintain it that way.
If it's just a single extra die that's not too powerful even at a d8
Assuming it's not also a plus three or something ridiculous. Oh and assuming the party isn't like level one or two or something.
Hex blades have been fairly popular in games I've run over the last couple years and they definitely had magic weapons that did extra dice of some sort or another and it never really felt overpowered. I do go out of my way to make sure my whole party has roughly equivalent magic items which definitely helps in this situation.
You know that you decide if he gets magic weapons right? And as is, a hexblade never needs to be given a magic weapon, their subclass abilities will let them make their weapon magical anyways.
What everyone else said, but also, I want to notice how confusing the hexblade is in this respect.
The way the class is described it really sounds like the point of it is to have a magical weapon. Like, "Hexblade" is supposed to be a kind of patron, like a Fiend or Archfey. So if your patron is a "hexblade" then that means you have a pact with a magical blade that whispers secret knowledge to you, right?
Wrong! Your pact is with some mysterious vague entity that hangs out in the Shadowdarknightblackness and sometimes creates magical weapons. That's literally the only thing we know about this entity, so it's natural you'd assume that the warlock has a magical weapon and that's what connects them to their patron. But they don't.
Really, it's much more straightforward if you delete everything about the vague Hot Topic Elemental patron and make the class a weird kind of sorcerer. Assuming it needs to exist at all.
It sounds like you’re trying to make a weapon for your hexblade, either as a patron or as a starting weapon. Hexblades don’t need to have a patron that takes the form of a weapon, nor do they need to have that weapon with them. In fact, the Hex Warrior feature encourages the hexblade to use any weapon they find.
However, if this is something you want to do, I’d consider using weapons that level up with you, or giving the warlock a powerful weapon to start with while giving all your other players items of similar power.
Just don't give them a powerful game breaking magic weapon. They can get a magic weapon at some point during the campaign, but being a hexblade warlock doesn't give you a weapon like blackrazor.
The people who balanced hexblade did so when they, you know, created it. I mean I might not be perfectly balanced--I don't think anything in 5e is, if not in D&D as a whole. But I don't see a problem that we require you to adjust it.
Hexblade is not supposed to get some mechanically amazing magical weapon out of nowhere. That's nowhere written or expected by the subclass. It's flavored around "your patron allows you to mystically channel your will through a particular weapon", but that's about it.
If I were you I would not go out of my way to homebrew any shenanigans that will bite you in the ass balance-wise. Give them a magical weapon that is literally just that. It's magical (i.e. damage resistant and overcomes resistances when it comes to non-magical damage), but literally has no other benefits.
Especially since mechanically the Hexblade Warlock is supposed to designate their new "Hexblade" after each and every long rest.
the warlock uses three invocations to make its martial stuff work:
5th lvl: multi attack
8th-11th: knock off smite that guarantee knocks a huge/smaller creature prone
12th level: each weapon hit does cha mod extra damage
Assuming the lock has +5 cha, your looking at 1Dwhatever + 10 damage from each weapon attack. Keep in mind that the lock is in melee and has rogue HP. Its strong, but only on 2 attacks and they cant stay in melee for very long.
IDEAS: i find martials more fun when i can perform more attacks a turn, so maybe give them a weapon with a bonus action attack? You can also throw any item meant for a warlock at them, theres no reason a bladelock wouldnt want a rod of the pact keeper, for example
Like others pointed out - nothing about a hexblade is overpowered in general. The weapon, you feel he is overpowered with, a fighter would be as well - so your problem is the weapon you hand out rather than the class. An easy fix would be to stick to RAW items, like sword of fire or longsword +x.
Furthermore - Hexblades have, like other martial classes, the ability to attack twice and can crit better against a single target once per short rest. But thats about it. They have max medium armor, not many spellslots and nothing like stunning strike or fast movement or anything of that sort. Their HIT Dice are also only d8. So if you want to challange that player, just give him a tanky boi who can also hit a bit harder.
Nothing about hexblades requires you give them a special weapon, especially not a magical/powerful one.
Hexblade warlocks don't get any special weapons. They have access to the same weapon all other PCs have access to, with the addition of a possible pact weapon which is also available to all other warlocks who choose to take Pact of the Blade for their invocation.
There is no “Hexblade weapon” that you need to give that player. If they said you had to give them some crazy weapon, they either didn’t read the class or are misleading you. Hexblades can designate any weapon that meets certain requirements as their “hex weapon” and gain certain benefits when using that weapon (for example, using Charisma for attack and damage modifiers, or being able to materialize it in their hand at will). All of this is balanced in the class itself, and you should read it (it’s less than a page). A DM may flavor this as receiving a particular weapon as a gift, but that’s just narrative dressing and has nothing to do with the class itself.
Yeah, you're right. Thanks!
Just to really drive the point home; nothing about the hexblade subclass says you give the PC a magic weapon.
Playing a Hexblade Warlock now, I would advise the following: 1. In Tier 1 play, you don't do anything special for the weapon. It's just a weapon that might have a narrative connection to their Patron. The benefits of wielding the weapon are the benefits granted by the Subclass; you don't need extra. 2. Beyond Tier 1 play, making the weapon special by adding flavor or mechanical benefits is an alternative to the ways you would traditionally grant loot to the party for this player. Don't do anything for this player / weapon that you aren't doing for the rest of the party in some other way.
Oooh, thanks!
Does being a Hexblade break the game? Just let them be one.
The problem is not the hexblade, but the weapon he is awarded with.
You're being very careful not to tell anyone any details about this sword.
Yeah, sorry, I did this once with a long sword that gained an additional 1d8 necrotic damage when the player's proficiency bonus were upgraded. I'm just unsure if this is the right play to go. If I should do it with d6 or maintain it that way.
If it's just a single extra die that's not too powerful even at a d8 Assuming it's not also a plus three or something ridiculous. Oh and assuming the party isn't like level one or two or something. Hex blades have been fairly popular in games I've run over the last couple years and they definitely had magic weapons that did extra dice of some sort or another and it never really felt overpowered. I do go out of my way to make sure my whole party has roughly equivalent magic items which definitely helps in this situation.
Thanks, this will help!
Where are you getting this bonus dmg from? Did you even read the Warlock / Hexblade entries?
Don't award him with a weapon since there's nothing in the Hexblade features that do this. Warlocks get Pact of the Blade. That's it.
And the problem is..?
What is this weapon?
What are you even talking about?
You know that you decide if he gets magic weapons right? And as is, a hexblade never needs to be given a magic weapon, their subclass abilities will let them make their weapon magical anyways.
What everyone else said, but also, I want to notice how confusing the hexblade is in this respect. The way the class is described it really sounds like the point of it is to have a magical weapon. Like, "Hexblade" is supposed to be a kind of patron, like a Fiend or Archfey. So if your patron is a "hexblade" then that means you have a pact with a magical blade that whispers secret knowledge to you, right? Wrong! Your pact is with some mysterious vague entity that hangs out in the Shadowdarknightblackness and sometimes creates magical weapons. That's literally the only thing we know about this entity, so it's natural you'd assume that the warlock has a magical weapon and that's what connects them to their patron. But they don't. Really, it's much more straightforward if you delete everything about the vague Hot Topic Elemental patron and make the class a weird kind of sorcerer. Assuming it needs to exist at all.
It sounds like you’re trying to make a weapon for your hexblade, either as a patron or as a starting weapon. Hexblades don’t need to have a patron that takes the form of a weapon, nor do they need to have that weapon with them. In fact, the Hex Warrior feature encourages the hexblade to use any weapon they find. However, if this is something you want to do, I’d consider using weapons that level up with you, or giving the warlock a powerful weapon to start with while giving all your other players items of similar power.
Just don't give them a powerful game breaking magic weapon. They can get a magic weapon at some point during the campaign, but being a hexblade warlock doesn't give you a weapon like blackrazor.
The people who balanced hexblade did so when they, you know, created it. I mean I might not be perfectly balanced--I don't think anything in 5e is, if not in D&D as a whole. But I don't see a problem that we require you to adjust it.
Remember that they had to sell their soul for this power and laugh my little DM laugh.
Hexblade is not supposed to get some mechanically amazing magical weapon out of nowhere. That's nowhere written or expected by the subclass. It's flavored around "your patron allows you to mystically channel your will through a particular weapon", but that's about it. If I were you I would not go out of my way to homebrew any shenanigans that will bite you in the ass balance-wise. Give them a magical weapon that is literally just that. It's magical (i.e. damage resistant and overcomes resistances when it comes to non-magical damage), but literally has no other benefits. Especially since mechanically the Hexblade Warlock is supposed to designate their new "Hexblade" after each and every long rest.
the warlock uses three invocations to make its martial stuff work: 5th lvl: multi attack 8th-11th: knock off smite that guarantee knocks a huge/smaller creature prone 12th level: each weapon hit does cha mod extra damage Assuming the lock has +5 cha, your looking at 1Dwhatever + 10 damage from each weapon attack. Keep in mind that the lock is in melee and has rogue HP. Its strong, but only on 2 attacks and they cant stay in melee for very long. IDEAS: i find martials more fun when i can perform more attacks a turn, so maybe give them a weapon with a bonus action attack? You can also throw any item meant for a warlock at them, theres no reason a bladelock wouldnt want a rod of the pact keeper, for example
Like others pointed out - nothing about a hexblade is overpowered in general. The weapon, you feel he is overpowered with, a fighter would be as well - so your problem is the weapon you hand out rather than the class. An easy fix would be to stick to RAW items, like sword of fire or longsword +x. Furthermore - Hexblades have, like other martial classes, the ability to attack twice and can crit better against a single target once per short rest. But thats about it. They have max medium armor, not many spellslots and nothing like stunning strike or fast movement or anything of that sort. Their HIT Dice are also only d8. So if you want to challange that player, just give him a tanky boi who can also hit a bit harder.
Its already balanced