I am in need of creating a 5th level Warlock NPC and after searching the forums here and elsewhere, referring to the DMG, I have decided to use the PRIEST NPC from the MM on which to base the 5th level Warlock.
But while reviewing the different NPCs in the MM and VGTM I saw the Warlock NPCs. Now these 3 Warlock NPCs were of higher spell casting abilities, so I did not use them. However, I saw they had INNATE SPELLCASTING abilities and other spell casting NPCs did not. I also understand that this special ability is really for Monsters. So, my question...
Am I missing something or do these 3 Warlock NPCs simply have the INNATE SPELLCASTING ability because they are considered Monsters and that is just the way they were designed? I do understand that the Mystic Arcanum is part of the Innate Spellcasting, but I am missing why they have the other "At Will" spells.
NPCs are not PCs. In design terms, they aren't really any different from monsters at all, and as such quite often have different abilities and such from the nearest equivalent player class by design. There are a variety of reasons for this, from action economy to ease of use when you've got 20 different monsters going on.
You will find that the Warlock NPC's/monsters in the various sources are pretty awful. They are not designed well enough.
Is this 5th level NPC supposed to interact with the group, or be the primary in a combat encounter for the group? How that NPC is designed matters on what the purpose of the NPC is. Oh, and double-check those "at will" spells. Are they all cantrips?
And the "At Will" spells are actually mostly Wizard spells: 1st, 2nd and then a Cleric Spell thrown in for good measure of confusion. Possibly some sort of aberration of the Magic Initiate feat??? Hence my confusion. I did not see anything in the Eldritch Invocations that would account for this. And just doubled checked the Errata page for Volo's... nothing.
It's perfectly valid to build an npc as a pc. It's not usually recommended because
PCs tend to be glass cannons (lots of offense compared to hp), which is not ideal for enemies.
PC writeups are fairly complicated, which is fine for a player who is only controlling one character, but not optimal for a DM who is controlling multiple monsters and everything else that might be going on.
And the "At Will" spells are actually mostly Wizard spells: 1st, 2nd and then a Cleric Spell thrown in for good measure of confusion. Possibly some sort of aberration of the Magic Initiate feat??? Hence my confusion. I did not see anything in the Eldritch Invocations that would account for this. And just doubled checked the Errata page for Volo's... nothing.
It's probably through the evocations that they get. Many of them grant leveled spells at will.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Pantagruel has the right of it, as usual. Especially the complexity. Unless the NPC is going to be around for a LONG time (such as a member of the party for a couple of adventures), I would not recommend doing it like a PC. Just give it some Warlock spells and abilities that seem useful and level-appropriate and call it a day.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I would note that warlock NPCs are relatively straightforward -- at level 5 they have six spells and three invocations, and you don't even need to add all of them on the grounds that some might be not relevant to a fight. For example, you might just say that the warlock has Fireball and Hellish Rebuke, and if he's still alive he uses Eldritch Blast, or if he's in melee Toll the Dead. Of course, a build like that is somewhere around CR 6 on offense and CR 2 on defense.
Thank you all for the advice on setting up the NPC, once again the KISS principle is a DM's friend! The Warlock will not be alone, I had planned on providing some company to be with it. ;-)
I am in need of creating a 5th level Warlock NPC and after searching the forums here and elsewhere, referring to the DMG, I have decided to use the PRIEST NPC from the MM on which to base the 5th level Warlock.
But while reviewing the different NPCs in the MM and VGTM I saw the Warlock NPCs. Now these 3 Warlock NPCs were of higher spell casting abilities, so I did not use them. However, I saw they had INNATE SPELLCASTING abilities and other spell casting NPCs did not. I also understand that this special ability is really for Monsters. So, my question...
Am I missing something or do these 3 Warlock NPCs simply have the INNATE SPELLCASTING ability because they are considered Monsters and that is just the way they were designed? I do understand that the Mystic Arcanum is part of the Innate Spellcasting, but I am missing why they have the other "At Will" spells.
Thanks.
NPCs are not PCs. In design terms, they aren't really any different from monsters at all, and as such quite often have different abilities and such from the nearest equivalent player class by design. There are a variety of reasons for this, from action economy to ease of use when you've got 20 different monsters going on.
You will find that the Warlock NPC's/monsters in the various sources are pretty awful. They are not designed well enough.
Is this 5th level NPC supposed to interact with the group, or be the primary in a combat encounter for the group? How that NPC is designed matters on what the purpose of the NPC is. Oh, and double-check those "at will" spells. Are they all cantrips?
The 5th Level Warlock will be a combatant NPC.
And the "At Will" spells are actually mostly Wizard spells: 1st, 2nd and then a Cleric Spell thrown in for good measure of confusion. Possibly some sort of aberration of the Magic Initiate feat??? Hence my confusion. I did not see anything in the Eldritch Invocations that would account for this. And just doubled checked the Errata page for Volo's... nothing.
It's perfectly valid to build an npc as a pc. It's not usually recommended because
It's probably through the evocations that they get. Many of them grant leveled spells at will.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Pantagruel has the right of it, as usual. Especially the complexity. Unless the NPC is going to be around for a LONG time (such as a member of the party for a couple of adventures), I would not recommend doing it like a PC. Just give it some Warlock spells and abilities that seem useful and level-appropriate and call it a day.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I would note that warlock NPCs are relatively straightforward -- at level 5 they have six spells and three invocations, and you don't even need to add all of them on the grounds that some might be not relevant to a fight. For example, you might just say that the warlock has Fireball and Hellish Rebuke, and if he's still alive he uses Eldritch Blast, or if he's in melee Toll the Dead. Of course, a build like that is somewhere around CR 6 on offense and CR 2 on defense.
Also remember the key caveat.
Solo NPC's are no match for a group. They get buried by the Action Economy of the group. What level is the group and how many in the group?
Thank you all for the advice on setting up the NPC, once again the KISS principle is a DM's friend! The Warlock will not be alone, I had planned on providing some company to be with it. ;-)
Thauraein, thank you for re-iterating the reference to Eldritch Invocations, I re-read them and found what I had missed.
My apologies for missing those, I knew I was overlooking something.