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Zilvryn wrote:Drow blackguard are not uncommon, though generally i'd point anyone who wished to play a drow blackguard in the direction of the Judicator.

Kind of a drow only uber-blackguard.

"Drow Judicator
[ The Underdark p.33-5 ]
A mortal imbued with fiendish cruelty, the drow judicator is a knight most foul. This unholy warrior is steeped in the divine energy of Selvetarm, the Spider that Waits, self-appointed Champion of Lolth. Consort of demons and demonic arachnids, the drow judicator is hated and feared by all, especially other male drow who are jealous of the heights of power to which he has risen."

The problems that arrive with having drow + these kind of classes is the inherently chaotic nature of the drow does not sit well with the typical LE Blackguard...

Lathlain wrote:This is one I feel compelled to post in!

Actually this topic rings a few alarm bells in me. Don't get me wrong, I've been silently angling for a blackguard role for most of my time playing FK, but that time has taught me that you don't need a class to fulfil the concept.

In 3rd edition D&D, Blackguard as a 'class' has very few limitations. You do not need a patron deity (That confused me as well, but there you have it!), you can be of any race (Provided it's within reasonable roleplay to do so), and you can be of any evil. You simply need to be devout and resolute in whatever cause empowers you (And you also need to have made friendly contact with an evil outsider, granted). The upshot of this is that a great many people in game would qualify for this title already, which is the bit that concerns me.

If you wanted Blackguard as a playable class (Prestige class or otherwise), we would either need to adjust the class requirements beyond canon to be harder to attain, being incredibly strict with the admission policies, or simply allow a large wave of the blighters to populate the circuit. I know which I'd rather, but it makes the admission process rather difficult.

I have to wonder whether it wouldn't be a better idea to be looking at the possibility of the divine champion instead (Which at least requires the unconditional blessing of a deity), or actually creating an anti-paladin class specifically despite canon if the sole intention here is to find the counter-balance to the paladin class.

(BASE CLASS)
The Anti-paladin is, as the name suggests, the antithesis of the virtuous Paladin. Whereas the Paladin uses divine favour to strike at the forces of evil, the Anti-paladin harnesses those very forces to wreak havoc among his foes.

Mantled with unholy favour, this paragon of evil cuts a swathe of death and destruction everywhere he goes, leaving chaos and misery in his wake. The Anti-paladin can call upon the powers of darkness to smite his foes in many different ways, inflicting pain, disease and terror on any who stand in his way.

Fear him. Loathe him. Beware him. This is a true champion of evil!
- Alignment Restrictions: Chaotic Evil only.
- Hit Die: d10.
- Proficiencies: Simple, Martial, Shield and Light, Medium and Heavy Armor.
- Skill Points: 2 + Int Modifier.

ABILITIES:

Level
1: Smite Good 1/day
2: Divine Grace
3: Aura of Fear - Aura -4 vs. Fear, and youre immune to Fear effect.
Death Knell 1/day
4: Turn Outsider
5: Smite Good 2/day
6: Contagion 1/day
8: Death Knell 2/day
9: Contagion 2/day
10: Smite Good 3/day
12: Contagion 3/day
13: Death Knell 3/day
15: Smite Good 4/day
Contagion 4/day
18: Contagion 5/day
Death Knell 4/day
20: Smite Good 5/day

SPELL LIST:
Level 1: Bane, Inflict Light Wounds, Protection from Good, Summon Monster 1.
Level 2: Bull's Strength, Darkness, Desecrate, Summon Monster 2.
Level 3: Blindness/Deafness, Greater Magic Weapon, Inflict Moderate Wounds, Magic Circle against Good, Summon Monster 3.
Level 4: Death Ward, Fear, Inflict Serious Wounds, Poison, Unholy Sword.

(PRESTIGE CLASS)
A Blackguard epitomizes evil. They are nothing short of a mortal fiend, a black knight with the foulest sort of reputation. Many refer to Blackguards as anti-paladins due to their completely evil nature. No one class makes the best Blackguard, all that is required is a willingness to serve the forces of darkness.

- Hit Die: d10.
- Proficiencies: All simple and martial weapons, all types of armor, and shields.
- Skill Points: 2 + Int Modifier.

REQUIREMENTS:

Alignment: Any evil.
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Hide 5 ranks.
Feats: Cleave.

ABILITIES:

Level
1: Use Poison - Automatic success when coating a weapon with poison.
2: Smite Good - Add Charisma modifier to attack roll.
Dark Blessing - Add Charisma modifier to saving throws.
Bull's Strength - As spell.
3: Turn Undead - Make undead flee.
Create Undead - summons an undead ally.
4: Sneak Attack +1d6.
5: Summon Fiend - summons a fiendish ally.
6: Inflict Serious Wounds - As spell.
7: Contagion - As spell.
Sneak Attack +2d6.
8: Inflict Critical Wounds - As spell.
10: Sneak Attack +3d6.

Kirkus wrote:first I want to say I agree that we need more evils! First and foremost that has been the way of things since the beginning of time, never enough evil characters. Of course my vision is of our beloved mud with thousands of players, and everyone has a character to cover most angles that way we can have huge sweeping rps with plenty of people to work on both sides of the situation.

Next I just wanted to add that I don't really see half that list of religions really supporting a class of this sort. First to answer the question mark behind Talos, I would say no. Its too organized where as Talos is all about a breaking of order. The others seem the same to me, except Bane and Cyric, they all seem to be too much of the 'under the radar' evil. Feel free to back up any ideas I have opposed....

I think of Cyric as the Helm of the bad-guys.

Lathlain wrote:...players are fickle

Oghma wrote:Cyric is the Oghma of Bad guys.

Bane is the Helm of Bad guys.

Shar is the Lathander of Bad guys

Laitaine wrote:Off topic:

I think of Cyric as the Helm of the bad-guys.

I... actually think I'm going to have to use that in my sig