Damn Swordsman (5e Class)

The Damn Swordsman

Warlock Subclass

You have made a pact with an entity that has given you the power to wield a cursed weapon. The entity has given you power in exchange for your skill with the weapon. Whether it is a trapped minor deity, a greater being within the weapon, or a blade made of pure hatred, forged in the lower planes of existence. Whatever the case, you are a wielder of great cursed power, a bringer of death and despair to all in this world and beyond.

Expanded Spell List

The Damn Swordsman lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Spell Level	Spells
1st	burning hands, false life
2nd	blur, scorching ray
3rd	fireball, fear
4th	greater invisibility, faithful hound
5th	Synaptic Static, flame strike

The cursed weapon

Starting at 1st level (from level 3 for the 2024 edition), you get the opportunity to put a curse on your weapon. With a bonus action, you curse your melee weapon by getting the following effects:

• When you hit a target with a melee attack, you throw 1k4 and cast a curse. Each of the 4 curses has 3 levels opening at the 1st, 6th, 12th level of the warlock. When the same curse is repeated on the 1k4 cube, it is enhanced by adding a new effect to the previous curse if the required level is reached. Each effect is considered a separate curse. 1 time per turn, you can throw 1k4 again if the maximum available curse power has already been applied, otherwise deal 1k4 damage to the target with necrotic energy.

1 level of curses (1 warlock level): (maximum 4 curses)

• 1. Curse of Vulnerability - Roll 1k4 and subtract the dropped value from the target's armor class.
• 2. Curse of Weakness - the target loses half of its speed and cannot use reaction.
• 3. The curse of perception - the target loses hearing and sense of smell and automatically fails any checks related to them.
• 4. Wound Curse - Each of your attacks deals an additional 1k6 necrotic damage.

Level 2 curses (Warlock level 6): (maximum 8 curses)

• 1. The curse of vulnerability - all attacks on the target are carried out with advantage.
• 2. The curse of weakness - the target makes throws of characteristics with a hindrance.
• 3. The curse of perception - the target cannot speak and is unable to make a sound.
• 4. Wound Curse - Each of your attacks deals an additional 1k8 instead of 1k6 necrotic damage and reduces the healing power by half.

Level 3 curses (Warlock level 12): (maximum 12 curses)

• 1. Curse of vulnerability - the target receives vulnerability to the selected type of damage, even if it previously had immunity or resistance to it.
• 2. Curse of weakness - the target throws 1k4 and takes away the result from each of his throws.
• 3. The Curse of perception - the target becomes blind and automatically fails any vision-based checks.
• 4. Wound Curse - Each of your attacks deals an additional 1k10 instead of 1k8 necrotic damage and steals the target's maximum health reserve by the same value, converting it into your temporary health points. Temporary health points disappear if: the target has died, removed the curse, or the effect of The cursed weapon has ended.

• You can maintain The cursed weapon for a number of minutes equal to your level divided by 2 and rounded up. All curses cast are valid until the end of the ability.
• You can use this ability for free once a day, after which you will need a long rest. You can activate the ability more than 1 time, dealing necrotic damage to the character equal to: 1k8+ your character's level. With each subsequent use after 2 applications, the damage level increases to 2k8 with 3 applications, 3k8 with the fourth, and so on. You can also perform a 1-hour ritual during which you must sacrifice one or more living creatures with a total danger score equal to or greater than your Proficiency Bonus. By doing this, you will receive 1 free charge, as if you had completed a long rest.

Devilish skill

At level 1, you gain superhuman combat skills and the skills necessary to use weapons effectively in combat. You gain skills in light and medium armor, as well as combat weapons. You add to your melee weapon attack and damage rolls your Proficiency Bonus divided by 2 and rounded down.

The damn channel

When you reach level 6, you gain the ability to redirect and absorb created curses.

• When you kill a target under the influence of curses, you can redirect curses to another target within 30-foot radius of it, or absorb curses by restoring health in the amount of the number of curses absorbed * Charisma modifier.
• You can use the skill a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus. All charges are restored after a long rest.

The cursed hand

At level 10, your weapon mastery reaches incredible heights against cursed targets. If you perform an Attack on a cursed target on your turn, you can make an additional attack on it. Also, you can use the Eldridge Blast instead of this attack.

Baneblade

At level 14, you have reached the peak in the use of cursed weapons. Now each of your attacks casts 2 curses on a hit instead of 1. (You throw 2k4 instead of 1k4, all other rules apply as well.)

Additional eldritch invocations.

• It's a bad omen. Requirement: The 12th level of the warlock.

You get obsessive messages in which you see images of various artifacts that seem to be calling you. Choose one item of Legendary level or lower. You will receive information in the form of tips from the game master about the location and methods of obtaining the selected artifact.

• A blade of devastating flame. Requirement: level 15 of the warlock, the skill "Contract of the blade".

You can use the Green-Flame Blade spell with its usual effect as a bonus action.

• Stability of external plans. Requirement: The 15th level of the warlock.

You add 2 to your armor score and gain resistance to 1 magic and 1 physical damage type.

General thoughts about the subclass.

This subclass was created as a replacement for the existing and somewhat outdated "hexblade", especially relevant for the 2024 edition. This subclass belongs to a group of paladins of similar subclasses such as "bladesinger" and "eldritch Knight" creating a combination of war mage. I tried to balance this subclass without turning it into a super versatile fighter (which, as it is, is a warlock), giving it strengths and weaknesses. As the name implies, I concentrated on curses, which are both the strongest side of the subclass and the weakest. Unlike the "bladesinger", whose stance is suitable for almost any situation, The Damn Swordsman is best suited for combat with 1 strong target, since curses do not strengthen the character, but weaken the enemy. You may have noticed that level 3 curses are quite strong and by imposing even 1 of 4 possible level 3 curses, you can greatly weaken the enemy, but it is not so easy to do this because you need to throw the same value 3 times in a row, the chance of which is not so great, besides you are limited by the rack limit with 1 use without penalty in day. This should act as a restriction, so that you do not waste your stance on any minor mess, besides, the subclass does not have any defensive skills and has to rely on the innate abilities of the warlock in this aspect or on a multiclass. I also added several "Eldritch Invocations" that are normatively suitable for the subclass and for the warlock as a whole.

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