Now, many of the Invocations in the PHB and XGTE are unbalanced in power and when they are available, but I really have to wonder what they were thinking when giving Death Ward, a 4th level spell, to a 9th level Pact of the Tome Warlock. We see Arcane Eye, also a 4th level spell, not available until 15th level. Yes, Arcane Eye can be cast at will, while the Death Ward works only once per Long Rest, but the Invocation can have 4-6 creatures under its protection at a time.
And Eldritch Mind, while something I accept as a welcome Invocation, is ridiculously available at 2nd level. No, just no. Warcaster can't be taken until 4th level, minimum (Human Variant excepted), and no competent player takes Warcaster until at least 8th level. So make the poor man's version of Warcaster available at 2nd level for Warlocks is way way too early for such a useful Invocation.
The overall power creep within Tasha's makes it a very poor addition to the volume of books. Originally I said no way, no how, would I allow anything from Tasha's at my table. I relented a bit, but now I have to go through this mess, line by line, and say "OK, that is reasonable", "Nope, that is utter tripe", or "Oh man, that is interesting, but I am going to have to fix that."
Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Sight, Fiendish Vigor, Eldritch Mind. Pick two at level 2, and a third at level 5. I honestly doubt Eldritch Mind will be in every selection even at level 5+.
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Now, many of the Invocations in the PHB and XGTE are unbalanced in power and when they are available, but I really have to wonder what they were thinking when giving Death Ward, a 4th level spell, to a 9th level Pact of the Tome Warlock. We see Arcane Eye, also a 4th level spell, not available until 15th level. Yes, Arcane Eye can be cast at will, while the Death Ward works only once per Long Rest, but the Invocation can have 4-6 creatures under its protection at a time.
And Eldritch Mind, while something I accept as a welcome Invocation, is ridiculously available at 2nd level. No, just no. Warcaster can't be taken until 4th level, minimum (Human Variant excepted), and no competent player takes Warcaster until at least 8th level. So make the poor man's version of Warcaster available at 2nd level for Warlocks is way way too early for such a useful Invocation.
The overall power creep within Tasha's makes it a very poor addition to the volume of books. Originally I said no way, no how, would I allow anything from Tasha's at my table. I relented a bit, but now I have to go through this mess, line by line, and say "OK, that is reasonable", "Nope, that is utter tripe", or "Oh man, that is interesting, but I am going to have to fix that."
Warcaster can be taken at level 1 by variant human, as well as someone using the custom lineage. and even otherwise Eldritch mind if taken at level 2 can be swapped at level 4 if the player decides to take warcaster which is massively better then eldritch mind. The advantage on con saves is only a small part of what makes warcaster so good, the extra nimble fingers able to do somantic components while holding stuff as well as the spell of opportunity attack is icing on that cake. Eldritch mind is a very poor mans warcaster. If your gaming table rolls stats you may even start with a 20 charisma at level 1 depending on where you put racial attributes if you going that route as well. I have an high elf sorcerer that put his racial Dex bonus into Cha and took ab racial cantrip that does not use Int for its stat as Prestidigitation has no requirement no matter how you get it.
None of these are anywhere close to being broken (unlike, say, Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast).
Gift of the Protectors is available 2 levels after Death Ward would be and only one creature will benefit from it. Undying warlocks can learn Death Ward at 7th level and just cast it on everyone in the morning. As for Eldritch Mind, giving up 1/2 or 1/3 of your invocations is a really high price to pay for a problem you can largely solve by staying 60 feet away from enemies, and there's so many other incredibly useful invocations you could've taken instead.
Now, many of the Invocations in the PHB and XGTE are unbalanced in power and when they are available, but I really have to wonder what they were thinking when giving Death Ward, a 4th level spell, to a 9th level Pact of the Tome Warlock. We see Arcane Eye, also a 4th level spell, not available until 15th level. Yes, Arcane Eye can be cast at will, while the Death Ward works only once per Long Rest, but the Invocation can have 4-6 creatures under its protection at a time.
And Eldritch Mind, while something I accept as a welcome Invocation, is ridiculously available at 2nd level. No, just no. Warcaster can't be taken until 4th level, minimum (Human Variant excepted), and no competent player takes Warcaster until at least 8th level. So make the poor man's version of Warcaster available at 2nd level for Warlocks is way way too early for such a useful Invocation.
The overall power creep within Tasha's makes it a very poor addition to the volume of books. Originally I said no way, no how, would I allow anything from Tasha's at my table. I relented a bit, but now I have to go through this mess, line by line, and say "OK, that is reasonable", "Nope, that is utter tripe", or "Oh man, that is interesting, but I am going to have to fix that."
Warcaster can be taken at level 1 by variant human, as well as someone using the custom lineage. and even otherwise Eldritch mind if taken at level 2 can be swapped at level 4 if the player decides to take warcaster which is massively better then eldritch mind. The advantage on con saves is only a small part of what makes warcaster so good, the extra nimble fingers able to do somantic components while holding stuff as well as the spell of opportunity attack is icing on that cake. Eldritch mind is a very poor mans warcaster. If your gaming table rolls stats you may even start with a 20 charisma at level 1 depending on where you put racial attributes if you going that route as well. I have an high elf sorcerer that put his racial Dex bonus into Cha and took ab racial cantrip that does not use Int for its stat as Prestidigitation has no requirement no matter how you get it.
Uh...I said Human Variant excepted. And as for any char starting at 20 CHA, that is impossible, using any set of actual non-Homebrewed rules. I don't think even the ridiculous Tasha rules allow what you are suggesting.
Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Sight, Fiendish Vigor, Eldritch Mind. Pick two at level 2, and a third at level 5. I honestly doubt Eldritch Mind will be in every selection even at level 5+.
There will be many a spell caster that will take the 2 level dip into Warlock to get Advantage on Con saves, and not just the ones that want to go the Hexblade route. Eldritch Sight and Fiendish Vigour, especially Fiendish Vigour, a wasted Invocation.
Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Sight, Fiendish Vigor, Eldritch Mind. Pick two at level 2, and a third at level 5. I honestly doubt Eldritch Mind will be in every selection even at level 5+.
There will be many a spell caster that will take the 2 level dip into Warlock to get Advantage on Con saves, and not just the ones that want to go the Hexblade route. Eldritch Sight and Fiendish Vigour, especially Fiendish Vigour, a wasted Invocation.
Delaying their first ASI and other class features by two levels, delaying their spell level progression by two levels, and potentially having to put a 13 in Cha? Yup, that sounds broken all right.
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Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Sight, Fiendish Vigor, Eldritch Mind. Pick two at level 2, and a third at level 5. I honestly doubt Eldritch Mind will be in every selection even at level 5+.
There will be many a spell caster that will take the 2 level dip into Warlock to get Advantage on Con saves, and not just the ones that want to go the Hexblade route. Eldritch Sight and Fiendish Vigour, especially Fiendish Vigour, a wasted Invocation.
Delaying their first ASI and other class features by two levels, delaying their spell level progression by two levels, and potentially having to put a 13 in Cha? Yup, that sounds broken all right.
Now, many of the Invocations in the PHB and XGTE are unbalanced in power and when they are available, but I really have to wonder what they were thinking when giving Death Ward, a 4th level spell, to a 9th level Pact of the Tome Warlock. We see Arcane Eye, also a 4th level spell, not available until 15th level. Yes, Arcane Eye can be cast at will, while the Death Ward works only once per Long Rest, but the Invocation can have 4-6 creatures under its protection at a time.
And Eldritch Mind, while something I accept as a welcome Invocation, is ridiculously available at 2nd level. No, just no. Warcaster can't be taken until 4th level, minimum (Human Variant excepted), and no competent player takes Warcaster until at least 8th level. So make the poor man's version of Warcaster available at 2nd level for Warlocks is way way too early for such a useful Invocation.
The overall power creep within Tasha's makes it a very poor addition to the volume of books. Originally I said no way, no how, would I allow anything from Tasha's at my table. I relented a bit, but now I have to go through this mess, line by line, and say "OK, that is reasonable", "Nope, that is utter tripe", or "Oh man, that is interesting, but I am going to have to fix that."
Warcaster can be taken at level 1 by variant human, as well as someone using the custom lineage. and even otherwise Eldritch mind if taken at level 2 can be swapped at level 4 if the player decides to take warcaster which is massively better then eldritch mind. The advantage on con saves is only a small part of what makes warcaster so good, the extra nimble fingers able to do somantic components while holding stuff as well as the spell of opportunity attack is icing on that cake. Eldritch mind is a very poor mans warcaster. If your gaming table rolls stats you may even start with a 20 charisma at level 1 depending on where you put racial attributes if you going that route as well. I have an high elf sorcerer that put his racial Dex bonus into Cha and took ab racial cantrip that does not use Int for its stat as Prestidigitation has no requirement no matter how you get it.
Uh...I said Human Variant excepted. And as for any char starting at 20 CHA, that is impossible, using any set of actual non-Homebrewed rules. I don't think even the ridiculous Tasha rules allow what you are suggesting.
As I stated if you are rolling your stats, any race with a +2 bonus to Charisma can have a starting 20 if they rolled an 18. For the ridiculous Tasha rules you can put your racial ability mods anywhere you wish as long as you do not stack your racial bonus to +3 or +4 in the case of the mountain dwarf. So yes it is very7 easy to do if rolling is allowed which by the players handbook is the recommended way with stat array and point buy being options.
Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Sight, Fiendish Vigor, Eldritch Mind. Pick two at level 2, and a third at level 5. I honestly doubt Eldritch Mind will be in every selection even at level 5+.
There will be many a spell caster that will take the 2 level dip into Warlock to get Advantage on Con saves, and not just the ones that want to go the Hexblade route. Eldritch Sight and Fiendish Vigour, especially Fiendish Vigour, a wasted Invocation.
Delaying their first ASI and other class features by two levels, delaying their spell level progression by two levels, and potentially having to put a 13 in Cha? Yup, that sounds broken all right.
And yet, how many spell casters do just that?
In my experience, not all that many. Fewer for more than one level. Wizards are arguably better off going Artificer than Warlock, Artificers won't care at all. Halfcaster classes? Bards are better off trying to become proficient with Con saves than getting advantage on them (one Hexblade level is great though) and Paladins, as much as they like the Warlock multiclass, really don't want it for diet Warcaster, while Rangers are right out. Clerics won't even consider this, Druids at most might take one level for Telepathy shenanigans. That leaves sorcerers, and delaying spell progression by two levels sucks for sorcerers.
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Sorcerers get proficiency on Con saves already, so they don't need to worry about advantage as much as other classes.
And with their d6 hit dice, when they are forced to make concentration checks - especially concentration checks with a high DC - they arguably have bigger worries than maintaining that concentration to begin with.
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Now, many of the Invocations in the PHB and XGTE are unbalanced in power and when they are available, but I really have to wonder what they were thinking when giving Death Ward, a 4th level spell, to a 9th level Pact of the Tome Warlock. We see Arcane Eye, also a 4th level spell, not available until 15th level. Yes, Arcane Eye can be cast at will, while the Death Ward works only once per Long Rest, but the Invocation can have 4-6 creatures under its protection at a time.
And Eldritch Mind, while something I accept as a welcome Invocation, is ridiculously available at 2nd level. No, just no. Warcaster can't be taken until 4th level, minimum (Human Variant excepted), and no competent player takes Warcaster until at least 8th level. So make the poor man's version of Warcaster available at 2nd level for Warlocks is way way too early for such a useful Invocation.
The overall power creep within Tasha's makes it a very poor addition to the volume of books. Originally I said no way, no how, would I allow anything from Tasha's at my table. I relented a bit, but now I have to go through this mess, line by line, and say "OK, that is reasonable", "Nope, that is utter tripe", or "Oh man, that is interesting, but I am going to have to fix that."
Let's be honest here, did you playtest these? Or just read them and got the impression they were broken? What are the amazing spells you have at level 2 that are broken if you can maintain concentration a bit better?
When we point out the legal options that beat these choices, you dismiss them as exceptions. But when you talk about how strong they can be, you use exceptions to illustrate it. Take a step back and examine your logic here. There are many great invocations available at level 2 - as others have said, EM wouldn't even make the cut. And Death Ward is something I like to call "Choose to lose" - a reactive, defensive stance that is self-fulfilling because you didn't take something proactive that could have helped win the fight before you dropped to 0 hp.
And Death Ward is something I like to call "Choose to lose" - a reactive, defensive stance that is self-fulfilling because you didn't take something proactive that could have helped win the fight before you dropped to 0 hp.
I think that's a little too dismissive. I've played enough to know that everybody loses at some point, and enough characters with similar abilities to know that getting to cheat death like this is powerful. Gift of the Protectors extending the benefit to whoever bites the bullet first, without having to know who that'll be or when it'll happen is very nice as well.
That said though, none of this makes it broken. As InquisitiveCoder said, Death Ward is already available as a spell two levels earlier than GotP. And it requires 9th level. Ninth! At that level it's nothing special. Book of Ancient Secrets, another Pact of the Tome invocation, is easily more useful and doesn't even have a level requirement. Something utilitarian like Eyes of the Runekeeper is probably going to be more useful in the long run, and that doesn't have any requirements at all.
GotP is awesome when it comes up, it really is, but objectively speaking it's a mediocre option to pick.
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Now, many of the Invocations in the PHB and XGTE are unbalanced in power and when they are available, but I really have to wonder what they were thinking when giving Death Ward, a 4th level spell, to a 9th level Pact of the Tome Warlock. We see Arcane Eye, also a 4th level spell, not available until 15th level. Yes, Arcane Eye can be cast at will, while the Death Ward works only once per Long Rest, but the Invocation can have 4-6 creatures under its protection at a time.
And Eldritch Mind, while something I accept as a welcome Invocation, is ridiculously available at 2nd level. No, just no. Warcaster can't be taken until 4th level, minimum (Human Variant excepted), and no competent player takes Warcaster until at least 8th level. So make the poor man's version of Warcaster available at 2nd level for Warlocks is way way too early for such a useful Invocation.
The overall power creep within Tasha's makes it a very poor addition to the volume of books. Originally I said no way, no how, would I allow anything from Tasha's at my table. I relented a bit, but now I have to go through this mess, line by line, and say "OK, that is reasonable", "Nope, that is utter tripe", or "Oh man, that is interesting, but I am going to have to fix that."
Let's be honest here, did you playtest these? Or just read them and got the impression they were broken? What are the amazing spells you have at level 2 that are broken if you can maintain concentration a bit better?
When we point out the legal options that beat these choices, you dismiss them as exceptions. But when you talk about how strong they can be, you use exceptions to illustrate it. Take a step back and examine your logic here. There are many great invocations available at level 2 - as others have said, EM wouldn't even make the cut. And Death Ward is something I like to call "Choose to lose" - a reactive, defensive stance that is self-fulfilling because you didn't take something proactive that could have helped win the fight before you dropped to 0 hp.
Advantage is roughly equivalent to a +5 on a Savings throw. Getting a + 5 to Conc spells, which are spells that Warlock's thrives on, starting at level 2, is an immense thing.Outside of AB, and Devil's Sight (for a Human it is a no-brainer), Eldritch Mind is now a go-to Invocation.
And Death Ward is something I like to call "Choose to lose" - a reactive, defensive stance that is self-fulfilling because you didn't take something proactive that could have helped win the fight before you dropped to 0 hp.
I think that's a little too dismissive. I've played enough to know that everybody loses at some point, and enough characters with similar abilities to know that getting to cheat death like this is powerful. Gift of the Protectors extending the benefit to whoever bites the bullet first, without having to know who that'll be or when it'll happen is very nice as well.
That said though, none of this makes it broken. As InquisitiveCoder said, Death Ward is already available as a spell two levels earlier than GotP. And it requires 9th level. Ninth! At that level it's nothing special. Book of Ancient Secrets, another Pact of the Tome invocation, is easily more useful and doesn't even have a level requirement. Something utilitarian like Eyes of the Runekeeper is probably going to be more useful in the long run, and that doesn't have any requirements at all.
GotP is awesome when it comes up, it really is, but objectively speaking it's a mediocre option to pick.
In comparison to other Invocations, getting this 4th level spell at 9th level near the top for "bang for your buck" when it comes to Invocations. Now, one can argue that many of the Invocations are out of whack when it comes to their power and when they are available. Discussing this Invocation, as well as Eldritch Mind, within that context is a conversation worth having.
And Death Ward is something I like to call "Choose to lose" - a reactive, defensive stance that is self-fulfilling because you didn't take something proactive that could have helped win the fight before you dropped to 0 hp.
I think that's a little too dismissive. I've played enough to know that everybody loses at some point, and enough characters with similar abilities to know that getting to cheat death like this is powerful. Gift of the Protectors extending the benefit to whoever bites the bullet first, without having to know who that'll be or when it'll happen is very nice as well.
That said though, none of this makes it broken. As InquisitiveCoder said, Death Ward is already available as a spell two levels earlier than GotP. And it requires 9th level. Ninth! At that level it's nothing special. Book of Ancient Secrets, another Pact of the Tome invocation, is easily more useful and doesn't even have a level requirement. Something utilitarian like Eyes of the Runekeeper is probably going to be more useful in the long run, and that doesn't have any requirements at all.
GotP is awesome when it comes up, it really is, but objectively speaking it's a mediocre option to pick.
In comparison to other Invocations, getting this 4th level spell at 9th level near the top for "bang for your buck" when it comes to Invocations. Now, one can argue that many of the Invocations are out of whack when it comes to their power and when they are available. Discussing this Invocation, as well as Eldritch Mind, within that context is a conversation worth having.
The context is that at 9th level you get to pick your 5th invocation, and GotP is nowhere near an auto top 5 pick by then. That means that whether anyone wants to argue that many invocations are out of whack is irrelevant if we're discussing power creep. If it isn't meaningfully stronger than at least 5 other options, it's not power creep. At worst it might have been power creep later on, if you could run out of good choices after a certain higher level, but even that isn't the case.
A Pact of the Tome Warlock with Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Sight, Book of Ancient Secrets, Ghostly Gaze and Sculptor of Flesh at level 9 is not clearly better off swapping any of those for GotP, particularly with Death Ward potentially a spell they can use by then, and they still have Visions of Distant Realms and Shroud of Shadow to look forward to. There's also Whispers of the Grave and Ascendant Steps at level 9.
We could discuss the relative merits of all these invocations, some will value them a little less and others a little more, but there's little point - the point is that GotP doesn't absolutely stand out among them.
Now, many of the Invocations in the PHB and XGTE are unbalanced in power and when they are available, but I really have to wonder what they were thinking when giving Death Ward, a 4th level spell, to a 9th level Pact of the Tome Warlock. We see Arcane Eye, also a 4th level spell, not available until 15th level. Yes, Arcane Eye can be cast at will, while the Death Ward works only once per Long Rest, but the Invocation can have 4-6 creatures under its protection at a time.
And Eldritch Mind, while something I accept as a welcome Invocation, is ridiculously available at 2nd level. No, just no. Warcaster can't be taken until 4th level, minimum (Human Variant excepted), and no competent player takes Warcaster until at least 8th level. So make the poor man's version of Warcaster available at 2nd level for Warlocks is way way too early for such a useful Invocation.
The overall power creep within Tasha's makes it a very poor addition to the volume of books. Originally I said no way, no how, would I allow anything from Tasha's at my table. I relented a bit, but now I have to go through this mess, line by line, and say "OK, that is reasonable", "Nope, that is utter tripe", or "Oh man, that is interesting, but I am going to have to fix that."
Let's be honest here, did you playtest these? Or just read them and got the impression they were broken? What are the amazing spells you have at level 2 that are broken if you can maintain concentration a bit better?
When we point out the legal options that beat these choices, you dismiss them as exceptions. But when you talk about how strong they can be, you use exceptions to illustrate it. Take a step back and examine your logic here. There are many great invocations available at level 2 - as others have said, EM wouldn't even make the cut. And Death Ward is something I like to call "Choose to lose" - a reactive, defensive stance that is self-fulfilling because you didn't take something proactive that could have helped win the fight before you dropped to 0 hp.
Advantage is roughly equivalent to a +5 on a Savings throw. Getting a + 5 to Conc spells, which are spells that Warlock's thrives on, starting at level 2, is an immense thing.Outside of AB, and Devil's Sight (for a Human it is a no-brainer), Eldritch Mind is now a go-to Invocation.
Even if it were a no-brainer outside 2 invocations that'd not make it a good choice until level 5, when you get your 3rd invocation.
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Eldritch Mind is 1/3rd of a very commonly taken feat (War Caster). This feat can easily be taken by Variant Human or Custom Lineage characters right at level 1. If you take it at level 2 as a Warlock, that's giving up half of your precious invocations for what is effectively going to be advantage on your saving throws against losing hex or spirit shroud. Warlocks already have very few spell slots, so this will just help you keep up the spells you can cast. This eldritch invocation is nowhere near being overpowered.
Gift of the Protectors is a good invocation, but it also isn't OP. First, it's restricted to Pact of the Tome Warlocks (a bit more than 1 in 4 warlocks). Second, it is very much a niche invocation, as it is a team-support invocation, which there are very few of. Third, you may have more uses of this feature than you have people to protect with it if your party is few enough in numbers.
Both of these are useful, but neither are OP by any means.
Tasha's doesn't have much power creep. The only real examples of power creep that should have been fixed are the fact that PHB/XGtE Sorcerer and Ranger subclasses don't get spell lists and the Order of the Scribes subclass.
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Now, many of the Invocations in the PHB and XGTE are unbalanced in power and when they are available, but I really have to wonder what they were thinking when giving Death Ward, a 4th level spell, to a 9th level Pact of the Tome Warlock. We see Arcane Eye, also a 4th level spell, not available until 15th level. Yes, Arcane Eye can be cast at will, while the Death Ward works only once per Long Rest, but the Invocation can have 4-6 creatures under its protection at a time.
And Eldritch Mind, while something I accept as a welcome Invocation, is ridiculously available at 2nd level. No, just no. Warcaster can't be taken until 4th level, minimum (Human Variant excepted), and no competent player takes Warcaster until at least 8th level. So make the poor man's version of Warcaster available at 2nd level for Warlocks is way way too early for such a useful Invocation.
The overall power creep within Tasha's makes it a very poor addition to the volume of books. Originally I said no way, no how, would I allow anything from Tasha's at my table. I relented a bit, but now I have to go through this mess, line by line, and say "OK, that is reasonable", "Nope, that is utter tripe", or "Oh man, that is interesting, but I am going to have to fix that."
Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Sight, Fiendish Vigor, Eldritch Mind. Pick two at level 2, and a third at level 5. I honestly doubt Eldritch Mind will be in every selection even at level 5+.
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Warcaster can be taken at level 1 by variant human, as well as someone using the custom lineage. and even otherwise Eldritch mind if taken at level 2 can be swapped at level 4 if the player decides to take warcaster which is massively better then eldritch mind. The advantage on con saves is only a small part of what makes warcaster so good, the extra nimble fingers able to do somantic components while holding stuff as well as the spell of opportunity attack is icing on that cake. Eldritch mind is a very poor mans warcaster. If your gaming table rolls stats you may even start with a 20 charisma at level 1 depending on where you put racial attributes if you going that route as well. I have an high elf sorcerer that put his racial Dex bonus into Cha and took ab racial cantrip that does not use Int for its stat as Prestidigitation has no requirement no matter how you get it.
None of these are anywhere close to being broken (unlike, say, Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast).
Gift of the Protectors is available 2 levels after Death Ward would be and only one creature will benefit from it. Undying warlocks can learn Death Ward at 7th level and just cast it on everyone in the morning. As for Eldritch Mind, giving up 1/2 or 1/3 of your invocations is a really high price to pay for a problem you can largely solve by staying 60 feet away from enemies, and there's so many other incredibly useful invocations you could've taken instead.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Uh...I said Human Variant excepted. And as for any char starting at 20 CHA, that is impossible, using any set of actual non-Homebrewed rules. I don't think even the ridiculous Tasha rules allow what you are suggesting.
There will be many a spell caster that will take the 2 level dip into Warlock to get Advantage on Con saves, and not just the ones that want to go the Hexblade route. Eldritch Sight and Fiendish Vigour, especially Fiendish Vigour, a wasted Invocation.
Delaying their first ASI and other class features by two levels, delaying their spell level progression by two levels, and potentially having to put a 13 in Cha? Yup, that sounds broken all right.
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And yet, how many spell casters do just that?
As I stated if you are rolling your stats, any race with a +2 bonus to Charisma can have a starting 20 if they rolled an 18. For the ridiculous Tasha rules you can put your racial ability mods anywhere you wish as long as you do not stack your racial bonus to +3 or +4 in the case of the mountain dwarf. So yes it is very7 easy to do if rolling is allowed which by the players handbook is the recommended way with stat array and point buy being options.
In my experience, not all that many. Fewer for more than one level. Wizards are arguably better off going Artificer than Warlock, Artificers won't care at all. Halfcaster classes? Bards are better off trying to become proficient with Con saves than getting advantage on them (one Hexblade level is great though) and Paladins, as much as they like the Warlock multiclass, really don't want it for diet Warcaster, while Rangers are right out. Clerics won't even consider this, Druids at most might take one level for Telepathy shenanigans. That leaves sorcerers, and delaying spell progression by two levels sucks for sorcerers.
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Sorcerers get proficiency on Con saves already, so they don't need to worry about advantage as much as other classes.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
And with their d6 hit dice, when they are forced to make concentration checks - especially concentration checks with a high DC - they arguably have bigger worries than maintaining that concentration to begin with.
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Let's be honest here, did you playtest these? Or just read them and got the impression they were broken? What are the amazing spells you have at level 2 that are broken if you can maintain concentration a bit better?
When we point out the legal options that beat these choices, you dismiss them as exceptions. But when you talk about how strong they can be, you use exceptions to illustrate it. Take a step back and examine your logic here. There are many great invocations available at level 2 - as others have said, EM wouldn't even make the cut. And Death Ward is something I like to call "Choose to lose" - a reactive, defensive stance that is self-fulfilling because you didn't take something proactive that could have helped win the fight before you dropped to 0 hp.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I think that's a little too dismissive. I've played enough to know that everybody loses at some point, and enough characters with similar abilities to know that getting to cheat death like this is powerful. Gift of the Protectors extending the benefit to whoever bites the bullet first, without having to know who that'll be or when it'll happen is very nice as well.
That said though, none of this makes it broken. As InquisitiveCoder said, Death Ward is already available as a spell two levels earlier than GotP. And it requires 9th level. Ninth! At that level it's nothing special. Book of Ancient Secrets, another Pact of the Tome invocation, is easily more useful and doesn't even have a level requirement. Something utilitarian like Eyes of the Runekeeper is probably going to be more useful in the long run, and that doesn't have any requirements at all.
GotP is awesome when it comes up, it really is, but objectively speaking it's a mediocre option to pick.
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Advantage is roughly equivalent to a +5 on a Savings throw. Getting a + 5 to Conc spells, which are spells that Warlock's thrives on, starting at level 2, is an immense thing.Outside of AB, and Devil's Sight (for a Human it is a no-brainer), Eldritch Mind is now a go-to Invocation.
In comparison to other Invocations, getting this 4th level spell at 9th level near the top for "bang for your buck" when it comes to Invocations. Now, one can argue that many of the Invocations are out of whack when it comes to their power and when they are available. Discussing this Invocation, as well as Eldritch Mind, within that context is a conversation worth having.
The context is that at 9th level you get to pick your 5th invocation, and GotP is nowhere near an auto top 5 pick by then. That means that whether anyone wants to argue that many invocations are out of whack is irrelevant if we're discussing power creep. If it isn't meaningfully stronger than at least 5 other options, it's not power creep. At worst it might have been power creep later on, if you could run out of good choices after a certain higher level, but even that isn't the case.
A Pact of the Tome Warlock with Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Sight, Book of Ancient Secrets, Ghostly Gaze and Sculptor of Flesh at level 9 is not clearly better off swapping any of those for GotP, particularly with Death Ward potentially a spell they can use by then, and they still have Visions of Distant Realms and Shroud of Shadow to look forward to. There's also Whispers of the Grave and Ascendant Steps at level 9.
We could discuss the relative merits of all these invocations, some will value them a little less and others a little more, but there's little point - the point is that GotP doesn't absolutely stand out among them.
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Even if it were a no-brainer outside 2 invocations that'd not make it a good choice until level 5, when you get your 3rd invocation.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I would never select Eldritch Mind. Warcaster is so much better and doesn't take up an Invocation slot that is better spent on other things.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
None of these are anywhere near broken.
Eldritch Mind is 1/3rd of a very commonly taken feat (War Caster). This feat can easily be taken by Variant Human or Custom Lineage characters right at level 1. If you take it at level 2 as a Warlock, that's giving up half of your precious invocations for what is effectively going to be advantage on your saving throws against losing hex or spirit shroud. Warlocks already have very few spell slots, so this will just help you keep up the spells you can cast. This eldritch invocation is nowhere near being overpowered.
Gift of the Protectors is a good invocation, but it also isn't OP. First, it's restricted to Pact of the Tome Warlocks (a bit more than 1 in 4 warlocks). Second, it is very much a niche invocation, as it is a team-support invocation, which there are very few of. Third, you may have more uses of this feature than you have people to protect with it if your party is few enough in numbers.
Both of these are useful, but neither are OP by any means.
Tasha's doesn't have much power creep. The only real examples of power creep that should have been fixed are the fact that PHB/XGtE Sorcerer and Ranger subclasses don't get spell lists and the Order of the Scribes subclass.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms