There is a very long and boring backstory behind this topic, but I'll spare us all some trouble and just get right to basics. A future fanfic I have planned will have Ranma studying the arts of the Swordmage, a blade and spell wielding Defender from the 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons. We were uncertain which weapon to have Ranma make use of after learning this style, Swordmages needing to wield Heavy or Light Blades (in rule terms), so we put it to reader vote. When the Scythe proved the most popular choice, we decided to play up to that and make it part of Ranma's theme. The thing is, I'm not really certain which of the paragon paths (specialised... focuses, let us say) would truly mesh the best with that motif. Two particular paths, the Umbriri and the Ghost Blade, seem like they would mesh best with the concept of the "sinister, scythe-wielding spell-warrior". I'm just no certain which would fit best. So, I thought I'd ask for people's opinions.
Naturally, so people know what I'm talking about, I've included specific details about the paths in question - the most basic summary of their background "fluff" and relatively crunch-free details of their path powers and features.
Umbriri
The Umbriri is a master of shadow and steel, mingling warrior arts with dark arcana in order to blend darkness, magic, and swordplay into one eerie and lethal killing art. They use their control over the shadows around them to veil themselves and allies from view and to manipulate their foes with umbral illusions, then pierce their hearts with an unseen blade.
Features:
Shadowy Action - spending an action point cloaks you and all your adjacent allies until the start of your next turn in darkness, granting you concealment.
Shadow Defense - you gain Racial Level Necrotic Resistance and, whenever you use an Aegis-keyed spell, you temporarily cloak yourself in dark magic. This gives a boost to the necrotic resistance and causes your basic blade attacks to inflict minor necrotic damage.
Shadow Shroud - if you have combat advantage against a foe, you also have concealment against them.
Powers:
Assassin Shadow - you cut your foe, then conjure a short-lived shadow double to flank them.
Concealing Umbra - you temporarily grant invisibility to an ally.
Shadowed Psyche - if you have combat advantage against a foe, you may dominate them.
Ghost Blade
All swordmages know how to cut temporary pathways through reality in order to attack or defend. The Ghost Blade focuses on mastering the art of walking between worlds, learning to better fight while in neither one dimension nor the other. Like a ghost, they can't be touched, but their touch is all too real - and deadly.
Features:
Slip The Weave - you temporarily become insubstantial when you spend an action point.
Here Nor There - you gain a short-lived bout of combat advantage against one foe after using a teleportation power.
Stalker of the In-Between - your teleport spells have greater reach and your Marks are more potent while you are phased or insubstantial.
Powers:
Ghost Sword - you strike with your sword split into multiple dimensions, enabling you to cut through the insubstantial.
Phase Evasion - you slip between dimensions to try and dodge an attack.
Omnipresent Assault - while in between dimensions, you may spread yourself even further in order to strike every foe you can see before returning to your original space.